<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Firebrand by con_affetto, merulanoir</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24235576">Firebrand</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/con_affetto/pseuds/con_affetto'>con_affetto</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/merulanoir/pseuds/merulanoir'>merulanoir</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dishonored (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bondage, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dubious Consent/Noncon, F/M, Fugue Feast (Dishonored), Genderbending, Knifeplay, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Possession, Rape, Semi-Public Sex, Tentacles, This started as porn and then it grew a plot, What if Jessamine Kaldwin was a horrible human being, void as lube</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:26:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>49,262</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24235576</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/con_affetto/pseuds/con_affetto, https://archiveofourown.org/users/merulanoir/pseuds/merulanoir</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><i>It was just a rumor, whispered among the highest nobility; that the Kaldwins had a taste for the exotic. A very specific kind of taste, closely followed by the wish to own, to possess. Daud had listened to those whispers and he’d felt nausea crawl up his throat. He hadn’t wanted to think about what they meant, what it implied that princess Jessamine Kaldwin had picked a Royal Protector from Serkonos, a young man with no ties to the nobility or any close family.</i><br/><br/>Corvo Attano—defeated, alone, possessed—hasn't hoped for anything in years. Then a chance meeting at the Fugue Feast turns everything upside down, and suddenly hope has a darker color.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Corvo Attano/Daud, Corvo Attano/Original Female Character(s), Corvo Attano/Thomas, Daud/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Co-written with <a href="https://twitter.com/conaffellatio">Kiko</a>.</p><p>Okay, so. Months and months ago we started playing around with several horny ideas, and from that dumpster fire this was born. It's been truly co-authored, with me (Meru) writing Daud's POV and Kiko responsible for Corvo's (look for three asterisks denoting the POV shifts.) We started with the premise that Corvo and Daud meet during the Fugue Feast because we wanted to write noncon porn, but then the idea grew a plot.</p><p><b>About the Dead Dove:</b> Corvo/Jessamine in this fic will be exactly as described in the summary. We chose not to use archive warnings, but when we get there the tags will include rape. We'll update the tags as we go, so do check them.</p><p>Last but not least. This specific thirst for fucked up porn was born after we both read <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1269920">Like a Pair of Open Graves</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodonmytypewriterkeys/pseuds/bloodonmytypewriterkeys">bloodonmytypewriterkeys</a>. If you're familiar with the series, you'll know what to expect.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Fugue Feast was a smell in the air. It was sweat and alcohol, blood mixing with sewer water, yet it felt like a lungful of fresh air. Fugue was freedom, for a day or two. It had taken Daud a few years to work out how to enjoy it because as far as work went, the feast was a fruit ripe for picking. It almost felt like a waste to spend the feast indulging.</p><p>Almost.</p><p>There was a man by the bar. He leaned against the counter and rapped it with his knuckles, all lean lines and false promises. He was dressed casually—dark trousers, off-white shirt, waistcoat—but there was nothing casual about the way he moved. Daud caught the glint of the black ring on his right pinky as the man gestured at the bartender.</p><p>He was ordering some good whiskey, too.</p><p>Daud moved through the crowded bar room like he wasn’t even there, but the man still looked up when Daud came to a stop next to him. Daud mentally scratched off one point for him; not many people paid him attention when he didn’t want to be noticed.</p><p>“Goin’ two days now, huh?” Daud let his original accent slip through. It was mostly for show, but the man’s skin was warm brown, and there was a good chance he was from Serkonos as well. </p><p>The man looked at Daud, his whiskey in hand. Up close, he was a pretty thing. Dark eyes with just a hint of exhaustion around them, long hair on a haphazard ponytail, and a body that begged to be used and discarded on top of wet bed sheets. And then there was that dark note of danger, something that told Daud that this guy could be worth the trouble. This guy could match his violence.</p><p>“They reckon it’ll be another two at least before they sound the end.”</p><p>Daud looked up from his own drink. The man definitely had a Serkonan accent. He was looking at Daud with those dark eyes, and looked simultaneously relaxed and ready for a fight.</p><p>***</p><p>Corvo rolled the bottom of the shot glass across the dirty bar, considering the man standing (looming) before him. He was stocky, well fed, and stupider men might have thought that it made him clumsy. But the man moved with careful purpose; his motions betrayed his training. Corvo couldn’t tell if the man was coming onto him (bold, for Gristol) or if he just wanted to lure him outside to steal his coin. His hands were covered with dark brown leather gloves that stretched up his arms.</p><p>Corvo had planned to spend most of the Fugue training. He knew how to spot a thief, an urchin, a made man. What he didn’t know was how to read the smarmy, opaque faces of the nobility. Emperor Kaldwin kept peppering him with questions after meetings—questions about the economy, about the various allegiances of the committee members, other nonsense. It had puzzled Corvo until the Emperor stated dryly that a future Royal Protetor needed more than a sword to guard his charge. Corvo’s ears had burned, but he dipped his head deferentially. </p><p>Emperor Kaldin had never quite gotten over Jessamine's choice of Protector. It was probably his fault for being born a commoner as well. Nevermind that he could thread Jessamine through any dark city alley without a scratch. Those talents didn’t count for shit in the Tower.</p><p>Corvo’s first few days of the Fugue had been lying about on rooftops, following drunken nobles and trying to predict their choices (and trying <em> not </em> to punch them; Corvo was on the edge of fucking losing it in the bloodiest of ways the next time he had to watch some greasy frocked bastard back some coinless sod into a corner). His self-imposed ‘training’ had gone awfully and he was here now, nursing a whiskey before he forced himself back out on the job. Nothing sounded less appealing. He’d picked up one of the Signs at the beginning of the feast— mahogany wooden ring that signified…well. Corvo hadn't had much experience with such matters, but it seemed like it was the most likely Sign he could wear that would get him into the places the nobility wanted to be.</p><p>Privately, Corvo had zero hopes that anyone would feel like availing themselves of the foreigner. It was a nice thought. His preferences skewed too rough for most to enjoy, and anyone who could match his strength was…unattainable, or disagreeable. But it didn’t hurt to try.</p><p>The man had sat at the bar and was knocking back something strong. His gloves creaked, and those black eyes glinted at Corvo over the rim of the glass. He was well-built, shoulders filling out his red coat, and he forced himself to raise his eyes to the man’s gaze.</p><p>“I’m in no rush for Fugue to end,” the man rumbled. His voice sounded like he gargled with sand and velvet, <em> Outsider’s eyes </em>.</p><p>Corvo turned the black ring idly on his finger (and was annoyed at himself for doing it; he was on the job, first and foremost, and second, if this man was at all trained he’d spotted the damn thing immediately. Corvo may as well have spread his legs and put out a damn sign). </p><p>“You look like the sort of person who’d be <em> working </em> the Feast, not attending it,” he chanced, looking for any hint of alarm in the man’s features.</p><p>***</p><p>Daud smiled. It was a dark, measured expression, and he mentally awarded the guy another point for not flinching or even betraying any fear. He had been fidgeting with the ring, though.</p><p>Daud leaned closer. Normally coming on to other men would be too much of a risk, but during the Fugue? There was so much happening, most of it much worse in the eyes of the holier-than-thou Abbey, that no one gave a shit. Up close, the man smelled of rain and whiskey, with a hint of some expensive cologne.</p><p><em> Working for the upper crust, </em> Daud concluded. <em> This guy doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing here.  </em></p><p>The man had jerked backwards, but his back was pressed against the bar. Daud didn’t back away. He let their chests brush together.</p><p>“No, not working,” he finally said in a low rumble. His face was only inches away, and he felt the guy’s hand twitch where it lay next to his. “And something tells me you’re trying to, but you’re failing.”</p><p>He let his Serkonan accent drag the words, knowing it had the added benefit of anyone eavesdropping being virtually unable to understand them.</p><p>The man bristled at this, but he wasn’t trying to melt through the bar any longer. </p><p>“Don’t see how that’s your business.” The Serkonan brogue was stronger now. Daud’s smile became a grin. He carefully gestured to the barkeep, and a moment later two glasses of whiskey slid up next to them. </p><p>Slipping the pill into one of them was almost too easy. What made it a workable strategy was Daud lifting the glass to his own lips first and taking a sip. The pill had dissolved instantly. He, unlike the poor fucker pinned against the bar, knew what was coming. And judging by the wide eyes and shallow breaths, the guy was more than due for some play.</p><p>“It ain’t.” Daud peeled the guy’s hand off from the bar and wrapped his fingers around the tumbler before raising his own and clicking the glasses together. He could feel the tiny amount of the poison as it hit him. He was used to it, and the rush was welcome. The low light of the bar became mellow as his heart picked up the pace.</p><p>Daud slid his thigh between the man’s. There was a sharp intake of breath.</p><p>“What—”</p><p>Daud pinned him down with a dark gaze. He didn’t say anything, just lifted his own glass to his lips as he pressed the advantage, rocking slightly closer.</p><p>***</p><p>The posture was a challenge, Corvo realized— about half a second too late, when his body was already unconsciously leaning into the contact. He bit off a curse and tried to scoot back, as he damn well <em> should, </em> except the other man had him well and truly pinned. With remarkably little effort, too. A thrill zinged down Corvo’s spine despite himself. He squared his shoulders and knocked back the whiskey in one go, expression mulish. How about <em> that </em> for a response for the man’s little challenge.</p><p>The whiskey warmed him immediately, but still wasn’t as hot as the other man’s hand as they wrapped around his own, still holding the empty glass. He must have ordered a different brand than Corvo was used to; the aftertaste was just a touch different (even the <em> booze </em> was unfamiliar in Dunwall).</p><p>“What do I call you?” Corvo asked, words melting together. “Other than ‘pushy.’”</p><p>The man chuckled darkly. The look he fixed Corvo with was downright <em> predatory </em>. He’d have to watch this one, Corvo thought blearily. He’d been drinking too fast— but had he, though, he’d eaten beforehand—</p><p>“‘Pushy’ is fine,” the man replied. He dipped a finger into Corvo’s empty glass and touched his tongue to the tip of the digit, his eyes closing briefly. Corvo swallowed. Then the man’s eyes were on him again, and he was offering the finger to Corvo. “Come on,” he said, voice deep and dark. Heat pooled in Corvo’s groin. “Or don’t you know how to finish?”</p><p>***</p><p>Daud saw the exact moment when the poison started to work its magic. The room was dim, but the way the guy’s pupils dilated had nothing to do with it. Daud knew he had about fifteen minutes before they’d need to leave, and he intended on using them well. If he got the guy sufficiently worked up, the next bit would go easier.</p><p>“Well?” he murmured. The guy’s eyes zagged back to his face from the finger and then his tongue darted out. Daud smirked, even as heat pooled low in his belly; he could have just seduced this one without any tricks, it seemed. The poor sod had even stopped withdrawing and now his crotch was snug against Daud’s thigh.</p><p>“And what do I call you?” Daud leaned so close that his lips were almost brushing the stubbly jaw. “Seeing as you’re not exactly being pushy tonight.”</p><p>The guy shuddered, and when Daud’s free hand landed on his hip he barely stopped himself from leaning in.</p><p>“Ah,” he muttered, clearly distracted. “Cor—Corvo.” A frown passed over his features, but it was chased away as Daud rewarded him with fingers trailing down his neck and chest. He rocked forward, the crowded room and the susurrus of other drunken people conversing melting into a pleasant haze. </p><p>The guy was getting hard inside his fancy trousers. When Daud’s thigh seated itself against him he gasped softly.</p><p>“Corvo,” Daud rumbled into his ear. “That’s an unusual name.” He took a firm grip of Corvo’s jaw as he blew a hot breath against his ear.</p><p>Corvo was shivering. His hands finally stopped hovering and Daud almost chuckled when they gripped his coat, attempting to pull him still closer. Corvo’s pulse was hammering against Daud’s lips when he pressed a wet kiss under his ear, and as he did he carefully slotted his hand between them.</p><p>Corvo made a protesting noise as Daud worked his trousers open, but the second his fingers grazed his cock it melted into a low mewl. Corvo’s head landed on Daud’s shoulder and again he attempted to pull him closer.</p><p>“What—” Corvo got out, the rest of the question vanishing into an exhaled curse as Daud rubbed against him. Daud just grinned. He knew people would most likely see what he was doing, and fuck if it didn’t set his blood on fire.</p><p>“Hm?” Daud kept up the leisurely movements, teasing Corvo into full hardness until his legs started to shake. “Something on your mind?”</p><p>“Fuck,” Corvo gasped. Daud took him in hand but only kept up the teasing.</p><p>“Somebody is a bit wound up. Bet I could just lift you up on that table to fuck you, and you wouldn’t have a word of protest.” Daud’s own cock was so hard it was aching, rubbing against his trousers and leaking. He pushed closer, so that Corvo could feel the bulge against his hip.</p><p>“Get you speared on my cock nice and tight, until you begged for more.”</p><p>***</p><p>Alarm bells were blaring in Corvo’s head, but they were dim, tucked away, far in the back of his mind, crowded back by far more heated thoughts. He pushed his hips against the man’s hand while trying to fight his way back to coherency. His limbs were sluggish, slow to respond; every twitch of his finger felt like he was dragging through wet sand.</p><p>“You drugged me,” he said accusingly, knees wobbling dangerously. He slumped into the other man’s grip, cock pushing against his thigh, and Corvo’s breath caught. “You—”</p><p>The other man shushed him, disguising it by turning Corvo’s face into his shoulder, muffling his slurred words. “Let it go, Corvo,” he said, his Serkonan brogue sliding around the harsh C, lips puckering at the O; everything was slow and hazy and melty. “Or. You can go, if you really want to. If you can.” His voice was hardly alarmed. When the man released him, Corvo grunted disapprovingly. He was <em> cold </em> now— but—</p><p>He gripped the bar tightly and fought to stay upright. The man’s face swam before him: a cocky smile, a spot of Corvo’s own drool staining his shoulder, a bulge at his trousers. “Getoff me,” Corvo mumbled.</p><p>The man chuckled, putting up his hands. “I’m not touching you, Corvo,” and oh, he was right; he was standing a bit—over there now. Corvo squinted, trying to assess the distance, but the man’s figure kept sloshing around in his vision.</p><p>He pushed himself upright and stumbled dangerously. The drunken crowd was suddenly very loud in his ears. He hadn’t fucking— his trousers—</p><p>Corvo pitched forward dangerously and was stopped by the man’s hands on his shoulders. “Sorry, sorry,” he was saying, addressing the drunken crowd. “He’s drunk. I can take care of him.”</p><p>Corvo mumbled something— <em> pushy, I don’t know him— </em> but the words didn’t make it past his mouth. Then he moaned as hands were at his cock again, but tucking it back into his pants. He grabbed on reflex at the man’s body to stay upright. The drunken crowd backed off again, and he was getting pulled to the exit by this man—</p><p>The darkness swallowed him up.</p><p>***</p><p>It wasn’t a long trek, and the guy wasn’t heavy. He was still mumbling something when Daud extracted both of them from the pub, but by the time they were past the crossroads he was out cold. Daud scooped him up and threw him over his shoulder. </p><p>Anticipation tingled through him. Daud kept a close eye on Corvo as he walked, but his breathing was steady and deep, and his body was burning up exactly as he’d expected. Daud stopped to let a carriage pass and tried to adjust his own pants; he was still hard, thanks to the trick with the poison.</p><p>Corvo made a sound as Daud finally lowered him onto the bed, but he was still dead to the world. Daud poured himself a fresh drink as he leaned back to consider his options. </p><p>He mentally went through the whole exchange once more, to ascertain the guy had not said the safeword at any point. Kinda hard to miss, the name of the fucking high overseer. Daud grinned as he watched the steady rise and fall of Corvo’s chest, how he was still hard and sweaty despite being unconscious. The poison would keep him under for an hour or so, and then he’d wake up to experience the entertaining bit of it.</p><p>Daud knocked back the drink and got to work.</p><p> </p><p>Corvo started to regain his wits just as Daud expected. First there was the tell-tale shivering, then his heart rate picked up. Daud shucked his shirt off and settled at the foot of the bed to admire the sight.</p><p>It gave him an indecent thrill to work his partners when they were under. He knew that in a committed relationship this would speak of trust, but during the Fugue, when picking up a random stranger, it was somehow more; it was the other person throwing themselves to the unknown, with no way of knowing what awaited them. It wasn’t about trust, but something dark and primal.</p><p>Daud watched as Corvo twitched. He was still too out of it to notice he had been tied down, but in a matter of minutes that was going to change. Corvo’s body was beautiful, brown skin peppered with scars, with enough muscle to show he wasn’t merely a pretty thing purchased by a dull noble.</p><p>He was also still hard. Daud slicked his hand and then lazily ran it down Corvo’s cock, slipping down to tease the base, thumb brushing his balls. He knew how the awakening felt like, and the disorientation would make any physical sensations feel confusing and greatly amplified.</p><p>Corvo made a low moan. His hips jerked up as Daud gave him a lazy pull. Daud watched him closely, and just when his eyes blinked open for the first time he eased a finger into him. Gentle, for now, fucking him with first one, then two digits. </p><p>He’d have plenty of time for the good stuff.</p><p>***</p><p>Corvo struggled to consciousness, feeling like he was underwater—everything was gold-tinged and hazy. And then fingers were inside him, and not <em> his </em> fingers; he struggled, instinctively, trying to pull back but something stopped him—</p><p>(Like that, then. Someone had noticed the ring— he’d noticed the ring—)</p><p>Corvo forced his eyes to focus. The dark-eyed man from the pub was kneeling before him, posture anything but subservient. His hand disappeared between Corvo’s legs, and— a whine was punched out of him as the man’s fingers pushed deeper. There was more than one; the man had been doing this for awhile before Corvo had awoken. Heat jolted his groin.</p><p>The involuntary twitch made the ropes dig in again, and his heart skipped a beat. “You—you drugged me,” he breathed again, and moaned when the man just grinned and crooked his fingers. The haziness was quickly fading, leaving nothing but heat and fire in his veins. He was so hard he could barely stand it, and if it was anything like what he’d seen the nobles dose themselves with, a single orgasm wasn’t going to do <em> shit </em> for his hard-on. The slightest touch felt like it was flaying him open.</p><p>Corvo gritted his teeth to bite back the moan. “Untie me,” he demanded. “I don’t—you—” <em> I don’t want you, </em> he tried to say, but the words stuck in his throat. He licked his lips. “I have money.”</p><p>***</p><p>Daud watched as the initial confusion melted into alarm. The sight sent a jolt of heat through him, as did the rough voice. Corvo had barely tugged at the ropes, but he was in for a surprise once they got there. Daud had tried and failed to break one of them, and he was to this day trying to make Lizzy tell him where in the Void they made ropes like these.</p><p>Corvo licked his lips as he tried to focus his gaze on Daud. His cock was so hard it must have bordered on painful by now.</p><p>“Untie me,” he rasped. “I have money.”</p><p>Daud gave him a feral grin. Now there was no need to hide it anymore.</p><p>“I bet you do, pretty thing like that.” Corvo bristled up at the insult. Daud shoved his fingers deeper, all three of them, and Corvo’s head lolled back as a moan escaped his mouth. He was clearly trying and failing to avoid pushing his ass into it.</p><p>“The way I see it, you’re here with me until I grow tired of you, or they sound the bells,” Daud said in a low voice. He ran his free hand up Corvo’s thigh, enjoying how the muscles trembled under his hands. He’d stripped off his gloves, and at some point Corvo was bound to notice the Mark, too.</p><p>This one would put up a fight, Daud could feel it in his bones. The knowledge was heady, joining with the certainty of having the upper hand. </p><p>“So you can thrash and fight all you want,” he went on as he stroked his fingers along Corvo’s cock. The man leveled him with a glare, but it was tempered by the needy way his mouth fell open. “But I might even wring that ‘please’ out of you before we’re done.”</p><p>“Fuck you,” Corvo spat. Daud grinned.</p><p>“Try again,” he said, twisting his fingers and grabbing the cock at the same time. Corvo’s face crumbled as Daud gave him a few brisk strokes, then easing off to offer barely any friction at all. Corvo whimpered. Daud could tell the poison was working like a dream.</p><p>He leaned over Corvo on the bed, not close enough for the man to headbutt him. He’d made sure to smear his fingers with the precum before brushing them over Corvo’s mouth.</p><p>“Right now, I’m pretty sure you’d bite my prick off if I shoved it into that wet mouth of yours,” Daud said conversationally. Corvo tried to pull away, but when he licked his lips his tongue brushed against Daud’s fingers. “But give me, hmm, a few hours with you, and that might change.”</p><p>***</p><p><em> Until I grow tired of you, or until they sound the bells. </em> A dribble of precum rolled down Corvo’s tip as he processed the words. The man’s fingers brushed against his lips. Corvo opened up his mouth, and his eyes fluttered shut as his own taste spread across his tongue. There was a dark chuckle, and his fingers relaxed just a touch—</p><p>Corvo bit down, <em> hard, </em> and blood bloomed around his teeth. The man snarled a curse and pulled his fingers out, quick as you please. Corvo’s lips pulled back to snarl himself, and then—a thunderclap of pain and his head snapped to one side. The slap made his ears ring and the taste of blood in his mouth intensified. He hung there a moment, stunned, gasping as he waited for the world to stop spinning.</p><p>“Was right about you trying to bite something off,” the man was saying. Corvo forced himself to focus on the man’s dark, dark eyes. The man forced his thigh between Corvo’s legs, the pressure just short of painful. Corvo wheezed out a breath and his hips pushed into the contact. Blood dribbled down his chin, and Corvo’s tongue darted out to lick it up.</p><p>***</p><p>Daud ran his tongue over the teeth marks and tasted blood. A dark, satisfied feeling rolled over him as he pulled his fingers away from his mouth.</p><p>
  <em> Firebrand, this one. </em>
</p><p>“We’ll work on that,” he said, pushing his thigh down harder. Corvo bit back a whimper. The blood made him look like a wild animal. “Break you a little.”</p><p>“We’ll see about that,” Corvo grunted. He was breathing hard.</p><p>Daud shifted and forced Corvo’s thighs wide open with his knees. He took a moment to knead on the quivering muscles there, ignoring the cock begging for attention. Daud thought about his options and then looked at Corvo with a thin smile.</p><p>“Had you played nicer, I might have been persuaded to be nice myself,” he mused. He gave Corvo’s cock a painful flick. “But we’ll do this the hard way.”</p><p>Without a warning, Daud shoved three fingers back into Corvo’s ass. It wasn’t even close to gentle, and Corvo flinched even as a rough sound escaped him. Daud pushed as deep as he could as then all the way out. He’d made a mess with the lube earlier, and by now the sheets were damp with it.</p><p>“Such a pretty thing,” Daud murmured as he repeated the rough motion. Corvo’s hips jerked as he ground down on Daud’s fingers with a helpless moan. “Trying to fight back, but shove fingers up your ass, and you just fall to pieces.”</p><p>Corvo tried to say something, but Daud thrust in again, and then didn’t give him a chance to speak; he pressed Corvo down by his hip, fingerfucking him fast and too rough, all the while leaning his full weight on him.</p><p>Corvo had not tried to be quiet before, but as Daud pinned him down he threw his head back and let go of all control. His breaths slipped out with high, needy sounds, growing more and more urgent. He was snapping his hips up to meet Daud’s fingers, eyes screwed shut and face slick with sweat.</p><p>Daud watched him with rapt attention. Corvo had been beautiful before, but like this he was enthralling. Savage and unrestrained.</p><p>Daud knew Corvo wouldn’t last long. At a particularly harsh shove of fingers he made a low, agonized moan, and suddenly he was coming. He clenched around Daud’s fingers as his hips jerked helplessly, seed spattering his stomach. Daud could feel the mad gallop of his heart as he pulled his fingers out.</p><p>Corvo was breathing harsh, eyes closed and floating in the momentary bliss. He wasn’t quick enough to react when Daud ran his free hand’s fingers through his cum and reached to smear it across his lips. </p><p>“Have a taste, firebrand,” Daud whispered into his ear as Corvo sputtered and pulled against the ropes. His eyes flicked to the knots, to the sturdy bedposts, and then back to Daud. His mouth was slack and filthy. There was a feverish look in his eyes.</p><p>Daud gave him another feral grin. “Unpleasant isn’t it?” He flicked Corvo’s cock, and the man hissed; he was going hard again. “That pressure will keep on building and let me tell you, it will be downright painful if I don’t let you cum.”</p><p>“What did you give to me?” Corvo coughed. Daud could see him trying to gather enough saliva to wet his throat.</p><p>“That ain’t your concern, firebrand,” Daud said. He cleaned his fingers before running them down Corvo’s cock in a rough motion. Corvo bucked up with a hoarse shout. “Right now you ought to worry about whether this was the only chance to blow your load before the bells sound.”</p><p>Corvo tried to say something, most likely spit out another insult, but Daud gave him another jerk, no gentler than the first. He met Corvo’s dark glare, and by then the pressure of his own pants was getting unbearable. Shucking his clothing was a relief, and it also offered the satisfaction of Corvo’s eyes taking him in with badly concealed need.</p><p>***</p><p>The man’s hand on his cock pure fucking torture. It was too much and not enough all at once, Corvo’s nerves still vibrating from his orgasm, and when the man touched him he flinched back, then pushed back into the touch involuntarily. This was all careening out of control, very quickly—</p><p>Crouched between his legs, the man gave him a horrible leer. His palm ran over the underside of Corvo’s cock, and Corvo arched back with a whine. The headboard shuddered. “Little dry,” the man remarked, and brought his palm back up to Corvo’s mouth. “Bite me again and I’ll leave you here,” he breathed, his voice pitched dangerously.</p><p>Corvo’s gaze dropped. He opened his mouth and touched his tongue to the man’s palm, ears burning with shame.</p><p>The man grinned and dragged his own tongue across his hand, adding his spit to Corvo’s. “There, that wasn’t hard, was it?”</p><p>“Fuck off,” Corvo said, voice cracking.</p><p>The man wrapped his hand around his cock, and Corvo whimpered. “No, I don’t think so,” the man replied.</p><p>He certainly knew what he was fucking doing. He gripped Corvo’s cock perfectly, speed starting off slow with a delicious little twist at the tip. He sped up to the sound of Corvo’s breaths, not quite fast enough but better than nothing; if he was going to get tied up here and fucked Corvo may as well try to enjoy it. He shoved his hps further up into the man’s hand, pressure building up around his ears—</p><p>Fingers wrapped tight around the base of his cock, punching the breath out of him. “<em> Fuck,” </em> he managed, twisting in the ropes. “Fuck, fuck—”</p><p>“Short memory you got, firebrand. And a short fuse. This is not gonna be fun for you, if that’s all it takes to rile you up.” The man chuckled and pressed his lips to Corvo’s chest. “Give me those pretty little sounds again.”</p><p>Corvo clamped his mouth shut, if only to piss him off. The man laughed out loud this time. His fingers danced along Corvo’s shaft and then pressed right at the underside of the head. His grip tightened and he dragged down, then back up Corvo’s cock, thumb brushing his sack. Corvo flinched hard, jerking in the ropes.</p><p>The man’s hand wrapped around his cock again, and a second hand joined to play with his balls. He moved more quickly now, sounding fucking obscene as his wet skin squelched over Corvo’s cock. Clever fingers worked behind his balls, pressing at the soft spot just behind, and Corvo barely caught the moan before it escaped his mouth.</p><p>The fingers pressed harder. Corvo clamped his lips shut, writhing, his sweat having turned the sheets below him damp. “Open your eyes, firebrand,” the man commanded. Corvo jerked his chin, screwing his eyes shut tightly, shame running parallel with the punishing heat.</p><p>A rough jerk of his cock made Corvo jump, and a strangled grunt tumbled out. “There we go,” the man said, sounding pleased with himself. “So pretty. At least for now.” His hand pistoned Corvo’s cock, and he moaned. “Can’t decide which I want first, your mouth or your ass. If it was your mouth, I’d come down your throat til you feel it in your belly, and your throat is raw and aching for me.” The man’s hand fondled his balls, thumb rubbing up to part them and stroke at the thick bundle of nerves underneath. “Your ass, though. Such a tight little hole. Might be tough to fit, but I’m sure I’d manage it eventually.”</p><p>“Let me go,” Corvo breathed. His hips pushed into the man’s grip desperately.</p><p>“That would be a waste.” The man’s head sped up and Corvo arched back, gagging soundlessly, orgasm barreling up—</p><p>The man’s fingers like a vise around the base of his cock. Corvo sobbed. The man <em> growled. </em>Musk rolled off him. “Mmmm. Once more.”</p><p>“Don’t— <em> please— </em>”</p><p>The hand started up again and Corvo’s resulting yell cracked in two. His arms strained against the ropes, pulling hard, hard enough that the bedframe wheezed in protest. The man looked up from his ministrations, brow cocking. “Strong lad,” he breathed. He climbed up Corvo’s prone body, pinning Corvo’s hips down with his weight.</p><p>Corvo struggled against his weight, gasping. He had to come, he <em> needed </em>to cum— His ears were ringing, sweat was dripping down his shoulder blades, and his throat was bone dry. The spit on the man’s hands had gone dry and the friction on his cock… “It hurts,” he gasped, and his traitorous fucking body shoved into the man’s grip desperately.</p><p>The dark-eyed man’s hand didn’t still. “Tell me to stop,” he breathed, voice ragged.</p><p>
  <em>“Stop—” </em>
</p><p>“No.” A rough twist on the head of Corvo’s cock. He <em> screamed</em>.</p><p>***</p><p>Daud’s cock was throbbing. It was dragging against Corvo’s hip, and even that much friction was driving him mad. Corvo’s hips were still trying to snap up, but Daud’s bulk prevented him from moving.</p><p>Daud wrung a few of those hoarse screams from Corvo before he let go of his cock. It was angry red and even as Daud watched, a drop of precum oozed from the tip. When he looked at Corvo’s face, his eyes were open and trying to level a glare at him. It wasn’t very effective, not with his mouth hanging open.</p><p>Daud leaned closer. Corvo’s breaths were hot and urgent as they ghosted over his face. </p><p>“Now, then.” Daud found Corvo’s nipple and gave it a twist. “I think I’ve waited long enough.”</p><p>“No,” Corvo gasped. “Let me go.” He tried to swallow, but it was clear his mouth was too dry. Daud brushed their lips together. It was a risk, and getting his bottom lip bit off would be a bitch to heal, but he was nothing if not drunk on the danger of this. It had been such a long time since anyone had been this interesting.</p><p>Corvo’s eyes went wide when he felt the head of Daud’s cock against himself. He tried to turn his face away, but Daud caught his jaw in an iron grip. </p><p>“Look at me, firebrand,” he said. “Look at me while I fuck you, like I promised I’d do back at the pub.”</p><p>Daud pushed in, into the slick heat, and groaned. He’d been thorough, but Corvo was trying to force his legs closed, clenching his ass, and it was too much—</p><p>Daud moved his hand, and when his fingers curled over Corvo’s windpipe he stopped struggling. It could have passed for shock, but Daud could feel the shudder that went through him when he pressed down just enough to be felt.</p><p>“Be nice,” Daud growled. He let the mocking demeanor slip, baring his teeth. “Or you can pretend you’re not thirsty for this, keep up the struggle even when both of us know what a slut you are, and pass out while I fuck your ass raw.”</p><p>Corvo went slack with surprise and Daud pressed the advantage, thrusting in. His breath stumbled out with a rough sound. He pulled almost all the way out and thrust back in, and Corvo’s mouth opened in a wordless moan.</p><p>Daud had a few blissful moments of fucking Corvo before the man forced his eyes open. He had no room to move with Daud pinning him into the mattress, and even when he tried to smash his forehead into Daud’s nose it was a pitiful attempt. He was breathing like a feral dog, teeth bared and traces of blood still coloring his lips.</p><p>Daud narrowed his eyes. Corvo’s forehead had hit his nose, but not even hard enough to draw blood. He pushed into Corvo and went still, cock throbbing and begging for more. </p><p>“You asked for it, firebrand.”</p><p>Daud tightened his fingers and leaned down. Corvo gave a faint noise of alarm, his face going red as he realized he would soon be having a lot more trouble making those noises. His chest heaved, and Daud locked eyes with Corvo as he resumed fucking him. Gradually he let the pressure on Corvo’s throat increase, careful but insistent.</p><p>“Look at you,” Daud grunted as he picked up the pace. Corvo’s mouth was slack and he was staring at Daud, not even trying to close his eyes now. “All mine, and doing just as I commanded. Such a pretty little thing.”</p><p>Daud forced a kiss on Corvo, and apparently the man under him was already so deep inside his head that he kissed back, all teeth and tongue, sloppy and wet. Daud thrust his tongue into Corvo’s mouth and tasted blood and cum, all the while cutting off most of his air and slamming into him.</p><p>***</p><p>Corvo couldn’t do anything except lie there and take it. His fingers twisted uselessly, scrabbling, and his ankles held him open for the man to fuck him like he owned him. Corvo’s mind was spiralling back, gone, floating somewhere…else. Coherent thoughts pushed out, brain busy feeling every sensation.</p><p>The man fucked him mercilessly, the angle <em> just </em> wrong, just barely nudging Corvo’s sweet spot. He scrabbled, trying to right the angle, to get something <em> , anything, </em>but the man pinned him down in an iron grip. His struggles grew weaker as he went longer with such little air. Blackness closed around the edges of his vision. His hands jerked, trying to go to the man’s hand on his throat, but the rope held him fast.</p><p>The man above him looked fucking sublime. He was paler than Corvo, but his skin was flushed; sweat rolled down his skin. He arched into Corvo, head thrown back. It was like he’d forgotten Corvo was there, or just didn’t <em> care. </em>Nothing but a hole for him to use. The man’s arms and chest were speckled with dark hair. It trapped the musk and sweat rolling off the man in great waves. His mouth was open, panting, tipped back and the column of his neck was fucking glorious; a cock would fit in there perfectly. Corvo drank in everything he could while his vision spotted. Found a scar that twisted down the man’s neck, curled over his shoulders, and another smattering down his forearm, leading to--</p><p>A black tattoo.</p><p>Corvo redoubled his efforts, thrashing in the rope. And that was enough for the Outsider’s man. He gasped and his other hand flew to Corvo’s neck, pinning him down bodily as his hips pistoned. Corvo’s shout was trapped between the man’s fingers and he felt a warm heat pulse inside of him (he <em> failed, </em> he fucking failed, all of that and the man had still—) Corvo recoiled, trying to twist away, but the man followed him easily, driving into him erratically. Cum dribbled from his hole, messing the sheets underneath him, and his entire mind was on <em> fire </em> with yearning. His body was grinding down on the man’s twitching cock, using the last of his oxygen not to escape but to try and <em> come. </em></p><p>***</p><p>As his orgasm finally petered out, Daud released Corvo’s neck. He was dragging air into his lungs as his arms shook, and Corvo was not doing much better; he was panting raggedly, the smell of sex rising off his skin. Daud’s fingers had dug in red marks, standing out against the warm brown of his throat.</p><p>Daud looked down. Corvo was a mess, still on the verge of coming. Cum was leaking out of his hole, and the sight sent a possessive rush through Daud. Without waiting for Corvo’s assent, Daud dug his fingers in.</p><p>Corvo’s back arched off the bed with a hoarse sob as Daud went in for his prostate. He didn’t bother adding lube, slicking his hand with his own seed instead, and started to stroke Corvo’s cock with an unforgiving rhythm.</p><p>“No, no—” Corvo’s voice gave out, and he tried to swallow with a convulsive click. “Please—”</p><p>Daud didn’t even look up. He twisted his fingers and squeezed harder, and Corvo broke, coming again with his hips jerking spasmodically, coating Daud’s fingers with his release. </p><p>Corvo fell slack. He was breathing so hard it came out as wheezes, chest slick with sweat and cum. His eyes were shut and his mouth was hanging open. Daud pulled his fingers out, and Corvo made a soft whimper. He didn’t open his eyes. He looked like he was somewhere far away.</p><p>Daud made quick work of cleaning himself up. Then he rubbed the washcloth over the mess on Corvo’s belly and chest. The guy actually opened his eyes at that. The gaze was hazy, and Daud smirked at him when he made a face.</p><p>“Easy now. Be nice and I’ll get you some water.”</p><p>Corvo looked like he was entirely too deep in the subspace to manage any actual words, but he accepted the water. He drank and then collapsed back onto the bed. Daud glanced at his wrists, but they were not bleeding; just rubbed raw against the ropes.</p><p>Corvo was radiating heat and exhausted satisfaction, and Daud knew he was probably expecting things to calm down now. Maybe even thought they were done. He moved quietly to retrieve the toy he kept in the box under his bed. Daud watched Corvo for any signs of him surfacing and staging another protest.</p><p>Daud slicked the plug thoroughly, and then reached between Corvo’s thighs. His skin was damp and hot, and when Daud’s fingers probed him Corvo made a muffled yelp. His legs tugged at the ropes, hard, but the knots held. Daud didn’t look up, just pushed the tip of the plug in.</p><p>“What—” Corvo tried to crane his head up. The haze was clearing. “Stop!”</p><p>Daud smiled to himself. Then he pushed, and the bulbous head of the plug slipped in. A sharp gasp rocked Corvo’s whole body as he felt it settle inside. A reedy moan followed as Daud nudged the toy rest of the way in.</p><p>He finally looked up. “Nice and sloppy. That’ll keep you open.” Corvo tried to glare at Daud. His mouth was working, but every time he shifted he could undoubtedly feel the toy inside. Daud didn’t say anything, just watched, and soon Corvo was growing hard again.</p><p>When Corvo realized what was happening, his head fell against the pillow. A violent shudder tore through him.</p><p>“No way,” he gasped. His voice was wrecked. </p><p>***</p><p>“You think you’d be more grateful. I gave you the good stuff.” The man’s nimble fingers circled around the plug, brushing the tip. Corvo’s breath caught. “You were practically begging for it, though.” His fingertips skated against Corvo’s softness. Corvo could still feel the man’s slick inside of him, burning his guts from the inside out. Would people be able to tell when he left here? Would the Overseer’s boxes drive him to his knees, full of the seed of one of his Marked? The thought was far away.</p><p>The man crawled up his body, and the sheer weight of him pushed the breath out of Corvo. He was broad shouldered, with thick, meaty arms that Corvo wanted to dig his nails into. It wasn’t just that he was big—muscle was laid across those bones, muscle wrought by need, not vanity. A layer of fat meant that he was soft to touch, cushioned against Corvo’s knife-narrow hips. The weight pushed him down into the thin mattress and kept Corvo’s breathing quick and shallow.</p><p>“I think,” the man announced, “I’d like you leaking my cum from both ends.”</p><p>He said it as casually as if he was picking out bread at the marketplace. Corvo swallowed reflexively and eyed the man’s cock. It was… appropriately scaled to the rest of the man, nestled in dark, curly hair. Hard, of course; the man had mentioned he’d dosed himself.</p><p>Corvo licked his lips. “Not worried I’ll bite it off?” he asked.</p><p>“Nah. I think you want it.” The man leered. “Besides, I could just take what I wanted.” The man ran his palm down Corvo’s chest. “Might have a harder time if you weren’t tied up, though. I’d have to wrestle you down, maybe bash your head to daze you. Or just choke you out, though you might come early if I did.” Corvo’s ears burned. The man’s hands cupped his face, rubbing the soft skin of his cheeks with a touch more force than necessary. “Go on. Open your mouth, Corvo.”</p><p>It was framed like a request, but Daud was already prying open Corvo’s lips, grinding Corvo’s cheeks against his molars. Corvo coughed, then choked as the man pulled his chin down. The jolt jostled the plug, more heat sparking up his spine. “Yeah, just like that,” the man breathed, eyes fixed on Corvo’s wet mouth. “Been thinking about squeezing myself down your throat since the pub.” He squeezed Corvo’s cheeks again. </p><p>“If you struggle, if you use that pretty mouth of yours for anything other than sucking me off,” he whispered, dark and lusty, “I’m going to get off the bed and get the knife I have in my boot.” Corvo shuddered hard, and the man kissed his cheek. “See how well I take care of you? Now you don’t have to pretend you don’t want this. You can just do what you were made to do and take my cock. Understand?”</p><p>Corvo nodded mutely. The man traced his fingers around Corvo’s chin, pulled open his mouth, and slid his cock inside.</p><p>***</p><p>Corvo didn’t even try to pretend he didn’t want it. Daud’s cock stretched his lips open and his eyes fell closed. Daud watched him like a hawk as he pushed in, slow and steady, hips ready to yank out. Corvo’s mouth fell open for him and a needy whine built at the back of his throat.</p><p>Not even a hint of teeth. Daud would have mentally applauded himself for breaking Corvo so well, but he was burning up again. It was the good stuff, and it meant that refractory periods became something to be laughed at. It also meant that the pressure building inside his balls was reaching a breaking point. He’d come only once tonight.</p><p>“Fuck,” Daud groaned. He shoved his cock the rest of the way in. He didn’t fancy getting his prick bitten off, but Corvo was moaning as the head nudged his throat, eyes closed and face slack with need. It didn’t look likely.</p><p>Corvo’s lips tightened as Daud moved, pulling away just enough for him to draw in a breath. Then Daud shoved himself back in. The movement jostled both of them, and Corvo moaned again. Daud could feel him rolling his hips, trying to find an angle to work the plug.</p><p>“Look at you, firebrand,” Daud gasped as Corvo sucked him down. “Such a greedy slut, perfect and choking on my cock.” </p><p>Daud wasn’t normally into talking this much, but something about this guy was making him verbalize all the abuse he was throwing at him. Maybe it was because Corvo lapped it up; every time Daud called him pretty he frowned, and getting called a slut made him flush scarlet. It was so obvious he liked it all, even when he was fighting back. It wouldn’t have been even half as good if he wasn’t struggling.</p><p>Daud alternated between rough shoves and slowing down the pace until Corvo was making soft whines and pulling against the ropes again. A glance behind him told Daud the guy was hard all over again. The toy sat snugly inside his ass, rubbing his sweet spot while his throat was constricting around Daud’s cock.</p><p>His peak was creeping closer and closer. Daud picked up the pace again and Corvo gagged. His eyes flew open and Daud looked at him as he pushed deeper. He held Corvo gaze until his orgasm hit him, and the sheer rush of danger punched through Daud.</p><p>He came down Corvo’s throat, knowing full well that if the guy decided to strike now, Daud would not be fast enough to pull out. It was heady, lights exploding behind his eyelids as the adrenaline worked his hips.</p><p>Corvo didn’t bite him. Instead he gagged on Daud’s cock with a blissed out expression, and when Daud looked at him again his gaze was once again going a little hazy. His mouth was spit-slick and filthy.</p><p>Daud tried to catch his breath. He sat down, and Corvo’s cock nudged at his ass. The guy drew in a sharp breath at the contact. Daud managed a grin.</p><p>“Something on your mind?”</p><p>***</p><p>Corvo wanted to be in the man’s ass, wanted to feel those plush thighs bracketing his hips, watch the muscles of his chest twitching as he slowly lowered himself down onto Corvo’s cock. He’d be warm, tight, <em> heavenly. </em> Words had deserted him and all Corvo could do was roll his hips and whimper.</p><p>“I said you’d beg, firebrand.” The man looked eminently satisfied with himself. He patted Corvo’s cheek and Corvo <em> burned. </em> He should have been fucking furious, should have turned his head to bite off his fingers, but instead he closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. The man hummed. "Void, you’re so desperate. It’s barely been two hours, and we have at <em> least </em> two days. Maybe I just won’t give you back at the end of Fugue. Not when you’re struggling so prettily.”</p><p>Corvo groaned, pulling against the ropes, and yelped as they dug into spots already tender. “Poor little firebrand. Here, I’ll give you what you want.” The man rose up, taking Corvo’s oversensitive cock in hand. The tip bumped against the man’s hole, and he sighed breathily. Corvo couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, except to watch where his hardness was so close to sinking in—</p><p>The man sank onto his cock. Corvo was making noises, but he couldn’t tell what they were, could only focus on how the man’s body gripped him like a vise. He slid down with nary a pause, not adjusting to him or wiggling, just a slow steady slide until he bottomed out, balls laying on Corvo’s groin. The sensations were too much, hugging every inch of him, and Corvo couldn’t breathe.</p><p>The man groaned appreciatively and rolled his hips. “Outsider’s eyes, that’s good,” he breathed. He levered himself up with his legs (muscles there too, rippling) and fucked himself deeper, trying to find the angle. His hands came forward to splay across Corvo’s chest, anchoring himself to better fuck the length of Corvo’s cock. He bottomed out again, balls dragging across Corvo’s groin—</p><p>Corvo came hard and without warning. His vision whited out and he thrust mindlessly into that warmth.</p><p>“Did you just—” The man lifted off him briefly and looked between his legs to see a string of cum from his ass to Corvo’s dick. Corvo let his head loll back, panting. The man’s lips quirked downward and he grabbed Corvo’s half-soft cock in hand, slicking it with his own spend. The overstimulation accosted his senses and Corvo shrunk back, wincing.</p><p>This time when the man sank back down, it was more painful than pleasant. The poison meant that his body welcomed it; he was already stiffening back up, but his nerves were on fire. The hole was too tight, too warm—</p><p>Corvo made a noise of protest, and the man pushed his hips down punitively. “Suck it up, firebrand; if you didn’t want it to hurt you should have had an ounce of self-control. But you don’t, do you, you little slut. So ready for it, coming so fast in my ass.” He bit his lip, slamming himself back down Corvo’s length. “Think I’ll take my time.”</p><p>The man fucked himself on Corvo’s cock like he was being paid to do it. Whatever he did for a living, it was clear that it required serious physical labor. A lesser man would have long since tired, but not the Outsider’s man. He met Corvo’s thrusts and when Corvo began to fall slack, dug his hands into Corvo’s hips and pulled him up to meet him.</p><p>Corvo’s cries did nothing to deter him, and in fact seemed to egg him on further. He couldn’t stop them, hiccuping, face wet, trying to find some way to escape from the overstimulation. But with every thrust, more of the pain edged into pleasure. By the time the man was redfaced and panting, Corvo’s cries had stilled and morphed into keens that didn’t make their way from his throat.</p><p>The man shuddered, toes curling, and Corvo watched him fall apart. He shook apart on Corvo’s cock, ass squeezing him like a vise, and Corvo’s eyes shuttered closed. Cum spattered across his stomach, hot and damning. The man rolled his hips a few last times, shaking, milking the last few spurts out of his orgasm, and then stilling with a sigh.</p><p>Corvo melted into the damp mattress. The light of the single lamp burned his eyes, and the slightest touch was torture. Corvo moaned pathetically as the man pulled out with a soft noise. The mattress squeaked as the man stood up and Corvo forced one eye open. The man was shaking out a washcloth and dipping it into a basin of water. He did—something—with his tattooed hand, and steam began to rise from the basin. He dipped it inside, humming, completely unbothered by the slick sliding down his ass and thighs.</p><p>Corvo shouldn’t have let the heretic-infected water touch his skin, but it was so warm. The man cleaned him off gently. “You know that we’re not done,” he said, voice mellow. “But you should get some sleep anyway. You won’t last otherwise.” He pressed a kiss to Corvo’s sweaty hair and settled in beside him. It was a cruel parody of a cuddle, but his body didn’t care how duplicitous it was. He melted into the contact, turning his face into the man’s shoulder. </p><p>“Sleep, Corvo.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Tags have been updated. That's all we have to say in our defense.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It wasn’t until Corvo saw the flash of red cloth that he was sure: it was the Outsider’s man. He was </span>
  <em>
    <span>here.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo stilled in his seat like he’d been pinned there by an arrow. Around him, the raucous sounds of the guard’s barracks continued on. He’d been convinced out for a drink, tonight of all nights. One of the guardsmen, Casey, had gotten a bottle of Old Dunwall for the solstice. She’d elected to share, and it had quickly turned into a full-blown party. Now Corvo found himself halfway to tipsy, surrounded by guards both inside and outside the barracks, and watching the subject of his wet dreams perch on the top of an adjacent outbuilding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s gut rolled, a maelstrom of unease, fear, and lust. It was one thing to have an occasional fucked-up sex dream. But now, the man had tracked him here to the Tower (understandable; he’d given the man his fucking real name). Not only that, he’d </span>
  <em>
    <span>broken in</span>
  </em>
  <span> somehow. Corvo knew the man’s face, but didn’t know his name. He’d never gotten one, not that Fugue, but had taken to privately calling him Cooper, after the sharp-eyed hawks kept by the Tower falconers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stood abruptly and slapped a hand on the table, swaying. Palumo (or was it Weisz?) grabbed his shoulder. “You okay, Attano?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine. Fine. Just need some air.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Palumo-or-Weisz chuckled. “Good luck finding a scrap of privacy around here. You gonna eat that blood sausage, or…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo waved the plate to them, and the other officer tucked in with abandon. He swept toward the outbuilding. The man had disappeared, but he was likely around here </span>
  <em>
    <span>somewhere.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Corvo rested his hand on the handle of his sword. It was comforting in his grip—too noticeable to draw here in the crowd, but at least he had some method of fighting back against the man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He drifted through the crowd, eyes flitting through the myriad of bodies and uniforms. No one paid much notice to him, exactly how he preferred it. He tucked himself into the shadows, back against the wall. There was a small alley on his left that looked abandoned, and a throng of loud partygoers hummed across the footpath a stone’s throw away. Corvo craned his neck, trying to get a better view of where Cooper— the Outsider’s man— </span>
  <em>
    <span>the intruder—</span>
  </em>
  <span> had been perched. He might be able to track where Cooper had dismounted the roof. This situation could still be contained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It amused Daud how people reacted to the Mark of the Outsider. Some were outright hostile or scared, but those cynical or dangerous enough usually treated it as a threat. They just never had enough imagination to expect the impossible, despite what the Abbey preached; to this day, Daud had not failed to take anyone by surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo had looked at the Mark with disgust that barely concealed his curiosity. Daud had not even needed to truly rely on his powers during the Fugue, not when Corvo had given him fucking everything; the Mark was still a wild card in the game they played, and Daud had spent two weeks to carefully consider his approach once he’d found out who Corvo was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d been...surprised when Corvo’s identity had come to light. Not unpleasantly, but Daud </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> sat down for a moment when he’d realized he’d stuffed his cock down the throat of the Royal Protector. He’d called Lord Corvo Attano a pretty slut after drugging him at a seedy Drapers’ Ward pub. Yes, it had been the Fugue Feast, a time outside of official timekeeping, but the Royal Protector was not just some nobleman or a high-ranking officer. He was most likely one of the vanishing few who could not be ticked off as a harmless lay of the Feast.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were many things to be said about Daud’s sense of self-preservation, but he liked to think himself a careful man. To a degree, no matter what his associates might say, because Daud had managed to survive; he was alive against some truly staggering odds. Thriving, even.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was a long way of saying that Daud wasn’t entirely sure that entering the Dunwall Tower grounds after sundown was something to be done because you couldn’t keep it in your pants. Sure, Corvo had been an amazing fuck, well above any kind of average, but he’d also been spitting mad the whole time Daud had kept him tied up. He had not been pretending, either; Daud knew Corvo could have safeworded out of the situation at any given moment, but his anger had been genuine. It was as if Corvo needed the abuse more than he hated heretics or being talked down to, but only by a very thin margin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud knew he’d been spotted. He’d shadowed Corvo for the better part of the evening, and showed himself when he’d gotten bored. Daud transversed to another vantage and waited, and then the barracks door swung open and Corvo exited in a rush, hand reaching for his sword. Daud smiled without any humor as he tried to decide whether to just leave, or toy with the man further.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was definitely a risk. Corvo was likely to be even more mad now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There </span>
  <em>
    <span>were </span>
  </em>
  <span>many things to be said about Daud’s sense of self-preservation. Unfortunately he had also been deemed interesting by the Leviathan, which meant that sometimes he discarded a winning hand just to see the pieces tumble down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud knew that if he gave Corvo more than a few seconds to react before pressing the...issue, the Lord Protector’s brain would overrule his baser desires. He’d call for help, or attempt to fight Daud properly. Both were undesirable outcomes, because Daud’s trade was thriving; he didn’t need to mess up the contracts with the Tower itself. The Spymaster was a despicable man, but he paid well and was clever enough to obscure his tracks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo turned a slow circle on the yard, ignoring a greeting thrown in his direction. He was tense as a bowstring, and Daud felt his lips twitch into a dark smile as he watched the dark eyes scanning rooftops.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He landed into the alleyway without making a sound. There was a water boiler unit blocking some of the view to the yard; Daud waited until Corvo’s silhouette passed against the light flickering to illuminate the yard, and he called on the Void. His power grabbed Corvo and yanked him bodily into the alley, where Daud braced for the impact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s back connected with Daud’s chest with enough force to force his breath out. Daud didn’t let it slow him. He twisted Corvo’s arms behind his back in the half a second the man was still trying to understand what had happened. Daud got a mouthful of hair for his troubles. It smelled much nicer than the last time he’d been forced to eat it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck—” Corvo gasped. He yanked his arms, and Daud congratulated himself for securing his grip with a tendril of the Void. Corvo had nearly dismantled Daud’s bedframe with his thrashing. Daud held on, one arm locked to hold both of Corvo’s, the other one landing under Corvo’s chin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could have tried to cover Corvo’s mouth with his gloves on, but Daud was morbidly curious to hear what Corvo had to say. As soon as he stopped trying to wrestle Daud off while trying to kick his kneecaps in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, firebrand,” Daud grunted. He yanked Corvo backwards, and the man stumbled. Daud knew they were just about hidden from view behind the boiler, but if Corvo made a fuss they’d be spotted instantly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Missed me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You—” Corvo’s voice was somewhat constrained by the shock and Daud’s fingers cradling his neck with more force than was comfortable. “Fuck you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud knew he was being stupid. Reckless. He should let Corvo go, transverse up to the rooftop and leave the Lord Protector with a sore windpipe and a rekindled hatred for him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead Daud forced Corvo around and slammed him against the rough wall. Daud was sure the man’s cheek scraped hard enough to draw blood, but he didn’t care; he had a tiny sliver of a window to make his point, and that opportunity was disappearing the longer he dallied. Corvo made a furious growl as he doubled his efforts to get free.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud had been hard ever since Corvo had spotted him. Now he thrust his hips in, grinding them against Corvo’s ass. The friction was so damn good, and Daud pressed closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Feel that? I bet you’ve been in a similar sorry state ever since I left you sleeping in that flat, leaking cum and bruised.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s lip curled even as heat pooled in his belly. It was a natural response to the man’s proximity, nothing fucking more, and the fury licked at his heels as Cooper shamelessly took advantage. “Disgusting bastard, piece of shit—!” Corvo twisted hard in the man’s grip and was dismayed to find it was just as secure as it was during Fugue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Training took over. Corvo stepped forward into the scant space left between him and the wall. His hips twisted hard, scraping against the brick, and he kicked backwards into the inside of the man’s kneecap. Cooper hissed in pain and his grip on Corvo’s neck tightened—but the hands behind his back loosened fractionally, just enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He threw his elbow back—empty air, Cooper had anticipated it—and used the momentum to bring his other arm back into a wild haymaker. Or at least, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>tried. </span>
  </em>
  <span>There was something else holding his arms taut; when had the man had time to slip a rope? Corvo overbalanced and knocked his head against the wall, feet twisted up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cooper pressed the advantage and shoved Corvo’s head into the wall so hard that his skull bounced against the stone. He slumped against the wall, panting, and felt the blood begin to trickle down his forehead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a scrappy little fucker, I’ll give you that.” The man’s breath was hot and damp against his ear. “That little trick is a Karnacan special. That sorry excuse for a punch, though— Even if I didn’t have your hands tied, I could have enjoyed a nice cup of tea before having to dodge.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo snarled wordlessly and pushed against the man’s grip. Cooper chuckled and pressed his cock against Corvo’s ass again. “Had nothing on my mind but this for weeks, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, it’s not mutual, you asshole.” Corvo seethed, cheeks flushed with rage and adrenaline. “You’re pretty fucking forgettable, if you ask me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t.” Cooper yanked Corvo’s head back by the hair. “And you’re a shitty liar.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man tightened his grip on Corvo’s arm and shifted the other, using his bulk to press Corvo flat against the rough-hewn wall. His hand drifted down, running over the fine fabric of his uniform, tracing over the buckles of his gear belt, then lower—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t—”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Corvo hissed. Cooper just chuckled. His hand moved lower, scratching the soft trail of thick hair at his groin before palming Corvo’s cock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck, if you’re not just begging for it,” he breathed. Corvo ground his teeth. “You’re hard as iron, just from me pushing you around.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get the fuck off of me or I’ll gut you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hand in his hair tightened and Corvo’s scalp was on fire. Cooper shoved his face into the wall again and dragged it down. “Don’t tell me what to do, firebrand. I didn’t come all the way here for nothing.” He rolled his hips against Corvo’s again, and Corvo swallowed a groan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Outsider’s man rutted against him, sighing with pleasure. Corvo squeezed his eyes shut tight. The din of the partygoers was close, too close, and he could see flickers of light where people passed by at the mouth of the alley. When Cooper pressed his thumb to his slit, Corvo bit down on his collar to muffle the sound. The wool skidded unpleasantly against his teeth, and he tasted blood—his blood. Corvo’s rough panting was loud, far too loud, and the presence of the rest of the guardsmen loomed large in his mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo made an obscene sound when Daud grabbed his dick. It was muffled into the wool of his coat, but the rough moan sent Daud’s blood rushing even more. He gave Corvo a couple of generous pulls before easing off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All nice and hard for me,” he murmured. The Void was keeping Corvo’s arms locked behind his back, and unless Daud was feeling things, the man was pushing his ass against his crotch now. “How many times have you got yourself off thinking about what we did?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“None,” Corvo gasped. The lie was pathetic, because Daud felt his hips give a twitch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You couldn’t lie to save your life.” Daud shoved Corvo’s pants down. He unhooked the fancy blade and tossed it to the ground. Corvo growled and thrashed again, but an unsteady groan skittered out as Daud palmed his cock again. It was just like during the Fugue; as long as his mind was otherwise occupied he was happy to be used, but the second Daud eased off Corvo started to fight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was glorious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me go,” Corvo gasped as Daud teased the spot at the base. “It’s not the Feast.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It ain’t,” Daud agreed. “But doesn’t it feel good to know I came all this way to take you against your will? That I want you bad enough to risk everything?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo bit back a needy mewl. He tried to twist his hips away, but Daud didn’t let him. He reached for the Void again, and when Corvo felt the slick, cool touch of it against his ass he sucked in a horrified breath. Daud guided it to Corvo’s hole and let it slip inside. Not moving just yet, but undeniably there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You see, firebrand, I experimented after the Feast,” Daud chuckled. He undid his own pants to finally free his own erection. “And I figured I like the idea of you loose and leaking. Think you could take both the Void and my cock?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s mouth was hanging open against the intrusion. He was deathly still in Daud’s grip, shaking with the effort to hold in place as the tendril eased into him. His cock was leaking and when Daud ran his fingers along it the man gasped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, Cooper—” Corvo’s words were rushed and unclear. Daud shifted to get his hand better positioned, and it was a mistake; Corvo’s head shot backwards and connected with Daud’s nose with an audible crack.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fucker—” Daud growled. He yanked Corvo’s head back by his hair and bit down on his neck. He made sure to shove the tendril deeper without any trace of gentleness. Corvo moaned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blood was trickling from his nose and getting into Daud’s mouth. The familiar salt and iron taste did nothing to quell his lust. Daud licked his lips and blinked away the tears the impact had forced out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know I like it when you fight back.” Daud gripped Corvo’s cock again and started a merciless rhythm. “It’ll get even better when I fuck you here, where anyone could stumble by and see you reduced to a begging mess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud kicked Corvo’s legs wider and thrust between his thighs before he could do anything to prevent it. The tendril of Void was seeping something, and Daud knew from experience that it would stain the skin with bruise-like hues for days. It was fine to use as lube, if only because it felt utterly filthy. Daud hadn’t wanted to think too much about what the fluid actually was; the Outsider would’ve found it supremely amusing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo tried to buck Daud off, but his breaths were unsteady and there was the first note of pleading in it; his hips were moving against Daud, stopping and starting again. Daud listened as a bigger group of people passed by the alley and chuckled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go on, call for help. Let everyone see how you allow me to treat you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t do this—</span>
  <em>
    <span>ah.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Corvo’s protest bled off into a moan when the cool tendril flicked his walls. Cooper chuckled darkly. His left hand was glowing, the inky dark mark flaring a sickly blue-white. Cooper’s hand drifted down, playing around his hole, letting the tendril rub against his fingers. He pushed slow circles around the puckered skin. Corvo whimpered and dropped his head against the wall, ass canting up into it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Think you’d get tired of fighting it, but you just love a losing battle, don’t you?” Coop smeared the—fuck, Corvo didn’t even want to think about what the slick was—lubrication around his fingertips lewdly. “You don’t even know how outclassed you are, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re—cheating,” Corvo breathed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course I’m fucking cheating.” He flicked Corvo’s hole roughly and he yelped. “If you just gave into the little cocksucking slut we know you both are, this would be so much easier. But no.” He lifted his hand back up to Corvo’s neck, then slid it around until his arm was nestled under his chin. “Fight me, and I’ll </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> choke you out, and I’ll drag your body out there for all of them to see, cock out and all. Got it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s fingertips trembled. He held there on the edge for long moments, looking for an opening, any opening. But the man’s grip was iron and the Mark glowed malevolently in the gritty back alley light. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard against Cooper’s sleeve.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m waiting, firebrand.” The man sucked on Corvo’s neck then bit down, hard. He yelped, heat flooding his groin, and his knees wobbled. “Fucking finally.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cooper’s grip suddenly tightened around his neck, and Corvo thrashed on instinct. The other man chuckled and simply let them both fall into the wall, pinning Corvo with his superior bulk. Corvo gasped, black spots edging his vision. The chokehold was fucking textbook, because of course it was—the blood pinched off, his consciousness tunneling. He twisted like a caged dog but Cooper held him fast. Corvo’s ears were ringing and he could feel the drool pooling on his tongue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Coop was saying something, but it felt far away. The tendril thrust in further, lifting Corvo onto the tips of his toes, and his knees buckled. He couldn’t see—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pressure lifted and Corvo gasped. Something stuffed itself in his mouth on the heels of the sweet air, wet and viscous. Cooper’s rough voice was murmuring something in his ear. Corvo moaned softly, mouth full.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His back was against the wall now. Corvo’s vision slowly swam into focus. Cooper’s hand was at his mouth, fingers probing, the slick from the tendrils coating him to the knuckle. Corvo’s glaze slanted downward to see an inky black tentacle disappearing between his legs. He whined, twisting his hips down against the fullness in his ass. It was far too much and </span>
  <em>
    <span>not enough</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It moved deep inside him, but the stretch wasn’t there. He pushed down desperately into it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s more like it.” Cooper licked up his cheek, and Corvo’s cock throbbed when he realized that the man was licking up blood. He wanted Coop to kiss him, taste the blood and salt and slick mix on his tongue; the thought was followed by a hot flare of anger. He tried to knee the man, but his legs were jelly from the arousal and the lack of oxygen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Too loud,” Corvo hissed, and his voice was reedy around Coop’s fingers. The group near the alley mouth had paused, and he couldn’t tell if it was happenstance, or because they’d noticed a sound.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud tucked the name Corvo had blurted out away into his memory; it seemed the man had given him a nickname, and something about it felt fitting. Daud met Corvo’s wide-eyed stare as they went still, listening to the sounds drifting in the evening air. Daud’s fingers were still in Corvo’s mouth, the slick staining his lips and jaw. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud strained his ears. There were two women and two men, arguing about a game of Nancy. Someone had cheated, someone else lost their money, it was all a bit of a jumble. Daud watched as Corvo’s eyes flickered between him and the sounds, and when the man next looked away Daud thrust the Void tendril deeper, willing it to thicken.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A rough noise almost left Corvo’s mouth. He bit down on Daud’s fingers to muffle it, eyes screwing shut as he was breached and speared by the ever-cool member. Daud let his teeth dig in, relishing the pain and the phantom sensations skittering along his flanks. Somehow the Void was in touch with his body; it wasn’t as good as being hilted inside Corvo’s snug asshole, but almost.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo was actually grinding down on the tentacle. His eyes were closed and Daud felt the sounds he was biting back, throat clicking and his windpipe humming.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You feel that?” Daud asked, driving the tentacle still deeper. Corvo whimpered. “That’s the Void itself, easing into your body like it fucking belongs there, firebrand. That’s what the Abbey warns you about; you’re letting a heretic fuck you because you’re just a greedy slut. Errant mind, wanton flesh, take your pick.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s eyes opened and the hatred flashed there, but the tentacle pulsed, thickened; Corvo’s eyes rolled back and his back arched. Daud finally wrapped a hand around both of their cocks. The slick clung to his fingers, and he knew they’d both be stained by it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Outside the alley the group erupted into raucous laughter. They were showing no signs of moving away, and the indecent thrill was clawing at Daud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud knew the tentacle was fucking into Corvo all the while, squirming inside and pressing insistently deeper, until everything was consumed by the claim and the static hum that emanated from the appendage. Daud had tested it on himself, reliving the Fugue and imagining new scenarios, and the idea of fucking into Corvo alongside with the magic made him grunt with pleasure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gradually eased his hand off Corvo’s mouth, and the man opened hazy eyes. Daud was still pinning him against the wall, Corvo’s hands were still trapped, but now it was just the tentacle spearing him, one of Daud’s hands on his cock and another sneaking down. Daud rubbed his fingers against the cool slickness until they connected with Corvo’s hole.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So well stretched out,” Daud murmured. Corvo’s lips moved as he blinked feverishly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Coop—” he rasped, trying to swallow. He looked ruined with the slick staining his mouth. “Please, </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud grinned menacingly. He tugged the tentacle out just enough to make Corvo whine, and immediately shoved his fingers in. It was a tight fit and Corvo’s head cracked against the wall as he threw it back with a low keen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Didya hear that?” A woman’s voice. Slurring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s panicked stare sent Daud’s blood rushing. He ground his fingers deeper, slick dripping down his wrist as he did, and Corvo twisted his head to bite the collar of his coat, teeth grinding against wool as he sobbed with pleasure and nerves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Take it, firebrand,” Daud breathed. “You want me fucking your ass raw here, stretching you so open that even tomorrow you’ll still be loose and sloppy. You’ll take yourself in hand and shove your fingers inside, and you’ll miss me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His own cock was throbbing where it rubbed against Corvo’s. Daud was impressed to see the other man’s erection had not flagged at all by the burn of the tentacle and Daud stretching him open.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was nothing. Some drunk passed out somewhere,” a man was saying. It was distant. Corvo kept biting his collar, eyes once more screwed shut and shuddering every time Daud jammed his fingers deeper. There were a few stray tears leaking from his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s mind was roaring, and his face was wet. Coop’s fingers twisted, obscenely soaked, skating across the thick tentacle inside of his ass. There was enough there that the slick, wet pops of Coop’s finger and the probing tentacle were nearly as loud as Corvo’s own aborted moans. He pressed down urgently, mouth open and eyes screwed tight. He had to finish, if he didn’t he was going to fucking die here, there was room for nothing else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cooper’s hips rutted forward against his own. The thick trail of curly brown hair rubbed against Corvo’s cock, the friction just enough to burn. He dropped his head onto Cooper’s shoulder, frantic. He was begging, maybe. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Harder. Faster. Please, Coop, fucking, please. Anything. I need it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The tentacle flexed again, swelling, and the extra girth snugged Cooper’s fingers inside wetly. Corvo tipped back his head, gasping.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His orgasm hit him like a railcar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo keened; shuddered all the way down to his toes, writhing on Cooper’s fingers and the tentacle fucking its way deeper and deeper inside. Wet heat spattered the front of his coat and caught the underside of his own chin. He gasped for air, panting. His ass burned and he stood on his tiptoes, the tentacle having hoisted him up onto the wall. “Coop,” he rasped, “Coop—” It was a protest, but for more or less he couldn’t say, rutting his hips down in uneven little strokes—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man’s voice again, the one that had cheated at Nancy. Corvo’s heart stopped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cooper’s fingers slowed, still dragging against his walls painfully. He cocked his head, listening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One of the women chuckled nervously. “Someone’s having a good time over there, I think.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dunno.” The man’s voice sounded dubious, and his feet moved closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo pushed against Cooper frantically, toes scrabbling for contact. “Don’t you fucking— </span>
  <em>
    <span>Coop—</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He twisted his arms again, but they were still held fast. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Coop!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Fear laced his voice, and he fucking hated it, hated how his limbs were still lazy and slow from orgasm. He lashed out with his foot and the movement made the tentacle slip another inch inside. Corvo gasped raggedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud grinned. Corvo’s seed was slicking them both, warm droplets of it cooling against bare skin, and there were footsteps drawing closer…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He let the man see just a glimpse; two figures pressed together, melting into darkness and blurring like something monstrous, something not of this world. His left hand moved, then, just as the eyes landed on them and widened, and the world slowed down. In the utter silence Daud looked the man in the eye, and then turned back to Corvo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s face was twisted up into a helpless grimace, pleasure, mortification, and need mixed up and bundled so tightly together they were impossible to tell apart. He was absolutely gorgeous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The transversal made time lurch onwards, and Daud slammed a hand in front of Corvo’s mouth as they landed on the rooftop. Corvo’s back pressed against the flat concrete roof as Daud pinned him down. It was just over the alley, Daud could still hear the footsteps and how they skittered as the man whirled around, a confused shout leaving him—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud pushed in. Corvo’s moan was just a muffled keen against his palm, and Daud bit through his own lip as his cock slid inside, cradled by the tentacle and Corvo’s warm body. He went still as Corvo writhed against his hand, hips bucking up and hands in an uncomfortable position under him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I swear I saw something--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud moved, and Corvo bit his palm, snarling—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard it too!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The tentacle thrust just as Daud did, and Corvo mewled, ass canting up—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There was—something! And then it was gone!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was better than anything Daud had tried to picture. Corvo was so alive and struggling against him, even when he was practically begging for it; the contrast of the cool tentacle and the hotness of his body dealt a delicious backhand to Daud’s overstrung senses. He snatched his hand away, only to crush his mouth to Corvo’s.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo kissed back with a feral sort of energy. Daud fucked him with enough force to drag his back against the rough cement of the roof, all the while tasting a mixture of blood and the electric almost-not-there of the slick. Corvo was all teeth and rage, but when Daud shifted he managed to wrench his leg free of his ruined pants and then wrap his ridiculous lanky limbs around Daud’s waist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The tentacle and him both slipped even deeper, and Daud actually moaned against Corvo’s filthy mouth. Corvo kept him there, rocking deeper and the tentacle swelling again; Daud wasn’t even sure he was controlling it anymore, not when it pressed against him almost hard enough to hurt, dragging against his balls as it moved. There was a sliver of it inside of him, and Daud had no idea when it had found its way there, only it was too damn good to worry about. He tried to will it to thicken as he slammed into Corvo’s ass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen!” The woman again, coming from further away. “Again!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s face was wet with tears and he was no longer snarling. His eyes were glassy as he panted and keened, lost inside his head, and Daud bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re mine, firebrand,” Daud panted against Corvo’s mouth when copper bloomed there. “Say it. Tell me you’re mine, ask for more.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s ass burned, it hurt like Cooper was sticking hot pokers in his guts. The overstimulation was punishing, combined with the way his ass tightened convulsively and made the cock and tendril stuffing him feel impossibly larger. He twisted mindlessly in Cooper’s grip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A sharp pain bloomed across his face. Cooper raised his hand again. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Say it, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Corvo.” His voice was iron, laced with desperation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please,” Corvo croaked. His voice was wrecked, and the scraps that were left were suffused in his Serkonan lilt. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Please.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Coop slapped him again and Corvo moaned. “Not what I said, firebrand.” He rolled his hips sharply and Corvo yelped in pain. “Who do you belong to?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s gut rolled. “You,” he rasped, and Cooper </span>
  <em>
    <span>moaned.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The man pulled out, leaving Corvo breathless, and shoved him onto his front with all the gentle care of a bloodthirsty mastiff. His face hit the rooftop, arms still locked behind him, ass up and struggling to get his knees under him. Cooper lined up and pushed back inside with one sharp thrust and Corvo’s knees skidded across the roof.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A hand fisted in Corvo’s hair and yanked, and then Coop was fucking him like he was a whore at the Golden Cat. Corvo’s eyes watered in pain, head stretched back by Coop’s pull. He choked on nothing. His rhythm was punishing, straining already overworked nerves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo might as well not even been there; nothing but a warm hole to fuck. He hadn’t been cognizant of just how focused on Corvo’s pleasure the other man had been until he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wasn't. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Coop’s hand wrapped in Corvo’s long hair and pulled again, hard enough to lift his chin off the ground. His other hand clawed bruises into the meat of Corvo’s thigh. The sensations were nearly unbearable, and Corvo couldn’t get a hand on his own cock. “Coop,” he begged. “Coop, please, come on, please—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cooper’s rhythm picked up. The hand on his flank unpeeled itself and Corvo whimpered at the sting as blood rushed back into the newly bruised skin. Then he laid his hand almost gently on Corvo’s back, just between his shoulder blades. He was holding something—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was the touch of cold steel.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cooper.” Corvo’s voice shook. “Coop—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man gave his hair a punishing yank and twisted the knife in his hand. The edge of the crossguard dug into his back. Cooper flipped the knife one-handed and the sheath clattered to the ground next to Corvo’s face. He pressed his hips hard against Corvo’s ass, grinding in little circles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Please—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Pain bloomed across his back, bright and hot. It blasted away all thought, a floodlight shining in his eyes. Cooper dug the tip of the knife in and his hips stuttered as he came. Warmth pulsed inside of Corvo, deep inside, and then—</span>
  <em>
    <span>cold,</span>
  </em>
  <span> as the tentacle spurted something deep inside, something freezing cold. Cooper snarled and hilted himself deep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo didn’t dare move until Cooper pulled out, panting. The knife kissed Corvo’s leg, but only the flat of the blade. Coop was wiping off Corvo’s own blood on his pant leg.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo laid on his stomach, vulnerable and spent. Cooper could stick a knife in his back right now. Probably would, eventually. (He could have at any point in these last few weeks, that was the terrifying part; the real question is why </span>
  <em>
    <span>hadn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> he).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A zip, and the sound of buckles clicking back into place, then the hiss of a lighter. Cigarette smoke wafted across the roof.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was gone before the smoke had cleared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time Corvo had wrenched himself off the roof, the blood had dried tacky on his back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>One week later:</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Newly-crowned empress Jessamine Kaldwin was addressing the parliament. Her voice was clear like bells, detailing the newest reformation to improve the conditions of the dockyard workers. Most of the nobles were listening, a few murmuring to each other with frowns.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One person in the room was not looking at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s spyglass made a soft click as he zoomed, and then Corvo’s face filled the shimmering lense. His eyes were trained on the ground behind the empress. He stood so still he could have passed for a statue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That one is the bodyguard.” Thomas’ voice was pitched so low only Daud could hear. The rest of the patrol, three master Whalers, were perched on the adjacent beam. They were hidden in the shadows of the roof, the curving architecture affording them stealth and comfort both.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jessamine Kaldwin finished her speech, and the nobles clapped. Daud knew it had been the last thing on tonight’s agenda. The session had dragged on; most of the nobles and representatives started to gather their things immediately, intent to go home for supper. He kept his eyes on the dais, where Jessamine Kaldwin was talking to the session secretary, a frail old man who looked at her with adoring eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud didn’t know why he was here. Technically they could be gathering intel, and that’s what he’d told his people. Sneaking into the parliament wasn’t as hard as going into the Tower was, but it wasn’t a trivial matter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud watched Corvo, but the man didn’t move an inch. He stood stiffly to the side as the empress laughed at something the old secretary said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just as Daud was about to call for a stealthy retreat, something caught his eye. The secretary turned and waddled off, the empress swirled around with a sweet smile, and—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She stepped very close to Corvo, laid her hands on him, one on his arm, one against his neck, and whispered something. Daud sat so still he could hear his own pulse as it sped up, because whatever passed between Corvo and his charge made an awful expression take over the man’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a smile, but so stiff and plastic it made Daud’s gut turn. Corvo was looking at the empress, and everything in him was suddenly shut off and guarded; it was masked expertly, and Daud didn’t know what to make of the fact that it was so clear to </span>
  <em>
    <span>him.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jessamine Kaldwin pulled her Royal Protector towards the door, Corvo followed her, and Daud realized he was grinding his teeth together hard enough for his jaw to cramp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The rumors seem to be true,” someone, maybe Sally, muttered. “They say the empress is fucking her fancy bodyguard.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, if you got to share your space with him, why not make it fun?” Rinaldo quipped back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud waved his hand to signal they were leaving, and only when the damp evening air hit his face was he able to breathe again. His people were already moving and Daud followed them, but his mind was elsewhere as they raced across the city.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d seen the whole range of emotion on Corvo’s face during their two trysts, and he’d thought that had been what the bodyguard amounted to, more or less. Now all Daud could think of was the paralyzed, hopeless dread that had been lurking just under the smile Corvo had offered the empress, and how it had been utterly unlike anything Daud had seen.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>We still horny.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Authors' note: Tags have been updated again, and this chapter is where the <i>rape</i> tag comes into play. Again, Corvo/Jessamine in this fic is not a nice thing.</p><p><b>A/N from Kiko:</b> This is a chapter I'm excited about.<br/>That's it that's the author's note.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>There was a...whisper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No. Not a whisper. It was not a sound. More like intent, lingering and almost not there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud drifted through his dream. It was not the Void, but something was trickling through. It had been present for a while now, a murmur at the back of his head when he was awake. When he was asleep, it crept closer like a tide coming in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud blinked his eyes open, but this time the feeling did not vanish. There was a cool caress over his thighs, and he didn’t have to look to know what it was; ink-black and moving like solid smoke, touching him insistently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The fuck,” Daud breathed. The tentacles didn’t care about his whisper, they kept up their leisurely exploration, enveloping his thighs gently but persistently. Daud laid back and closed his eyes, tried to call for that part of the Void where he thought they originated from, but there was only an echo; a wordless laugh and the caress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud fisted the sheets in an effort to keep still. Up until now, he had been able to control the mysterious things. He had been able to call on them when he wished and then make them melt back into nothing once he was done. They had been immensely helpful as restraints, and the other uses had left him breathless with the dark joy of discovery.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A thinner tentacle slipped upwards and curled around his stiffening cock. Daud looked as it slithered upwards, heedless of the command he was giving it to back off. The end licked the tip of his cock and Daud let his head fall back with a moan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t like he would have </span>
  <em>
    <span>stopped </span>
  </em>
  <span>this, but apparently he didn’t have a say. It should have worried him, but now there were thicker coils pressing into him, all the while leaking the thundercloud-colored slick, and Daud abandoned the thoughts. His back arched as the tentacle breached him, and he bit his own arm hard to avoid shouting. It was too much, too quick, and thus perfect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He completely lost track of time, only vaguely aware of himself and the room, of coming more than once, and the tentacles forcing him still and open even when he was certain he would crawl out of his own skin. It was a total invasion, but it never crossed the line of becoming unpleasant. Daud felt the Void pour into him, but when he expected it to leave it didn’t. The echo remained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the tendrils finally withdrew and vanished back into nothingness, Daud was left slack on his cot. His thighs were once again streaked with blue and black tracks. They looked like bruises, but they didn’t hurt. His cock was soft and spent now and it too looked well-abused. There was cum splattered all over his belly and the sheets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finally made it into a sitting position and then spent a long while just staring at the marks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This had happened twice now. Today had been much more intense, and Daud let himself float in the post-orgasm haze as he mentally catalogued the situation. Something was changing, had been ever since he had drugged Corvo at the Feast. Daud had discovered the existence of the tendrils, like a physical aspect of the Void, and now it was transforming again. Transforming him, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud ran his fingers over his chest hair. It was becoming more coarse. He had always been solid in build, but his body was shifting minutely, making him take up more space wherever he went. He couldn’t tell if it was a true physical change or something that just bled into other people’s minds. It certainly made intimidating customers easier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud knew he should be worried, but he couldn’t quite reach the feeling. He was feeling good, even as his body was changing, becoming just slightly less human it felt like. There were phantom instincts tickling his mind every now and then, dark and sly, and he knew they would force their way through eventually. Many of those focused on Corvo, and how he had felt the last time they had met.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud closed his eyes as he recalled the scene he had left behind. His cock twitched when he remembered Corvo lying face down on the roof, breaths whistling and ass dripping Daud’s cum and the dark slick. The memory was thick with the scent of blood. If it had been all, Daud would have been happy to wait for the next Fugue, or maybe force a meeting on him again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he could also remember the evening he spied on Corvo at the parliament.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.” Corvo tried out the word. His natural rasp shaped it into something guttural. He licked his lips, staring at himself in the mirror, hands gripping the edge of the porcelain sink. Corvo licked his lips. “Stop.” The face in the mirror regarded him inscrutably.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t you like it, tell me you do-- I want to hear, with your pretty words, how much--</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo gripped the sink tighter. He pushed that out of his mind, shaking his head. Daud appeared in his mind’s eye instead, dark and hungry-looking. Corvo let out a shaky breath, the tension leaking out of him. Daud’s gravelly voice sounded in his ear. </span>
  <em>
    <span>We’ll do this the hard way,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he had said; Corvo unpeeled one hand from the sink and gripped his cock, pretending that the hand wasn’t his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo had spent the last few months consumed by fervent need to find out who Cooper was. It had taken far more time than anticipated. Normal channels did fuck all. Corvo had spent weeks stymied by runarounds, and at one point had been ambushed and nearly killed by a false contact. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, he’d caught a noble who told whispered tales about a man in a red coat with a wicked scar. Corvo had taken off a few fingers before frustration got the better of him, and he dangled him over the Wrenhaven instead. The man had spilled his guts after Corvo had thrown the man’s sliced-off fingers into the river and the hagfish had thrashed to the surface for a more substantial meal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(They got it, afterward; Corvo disliked leaving witnesses of this kind of thing.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Daud.” Corvo shaped the name with his mouth, dragging the thumb on the underside of his cock. He shivered, and said it again. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daud.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> The man was a black magician. Would he hear him, have some sixth sense that Corvo was thinking of him?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Twenty minutes later, Corvo came with Daud’s name on his lips, writhing on the floor with cum coating his knuckles and an oiled-up sword hilt buried in his ass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s the third killing this month.” Watch Officer Mair held her umbrella tighter in the grip against the pouring rain. Corvo stared at the body in the grimy alleyway, mouth dry. “If the pattern holds, it’s going to be one of the worse members of the Bottle Street Gang, or maybe the Dead Eels. Someone’s been cleaning out the dregs.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t make any sense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What I can’t understand is why.” Mair tried to get her cigarette to light in the damp air, and grimaced as another match died out. “If it was gang fighting, we wouldn’t see this kind of restraint. There would be more bodies. And it’s not a professional hit; these guys were small-time enough that no one would pay more than a few coins for it.” The next match caught, and Mair sucked to get the tip of her cigarette to light. “Not to mention…well, that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The dark, mottled bruising that covered so much of the victim’s skin. It centered around the wrists, arms, and throat. A wound from a long knife split the victim’s chest from belly to sternum. Corvo licked his lips. He knew that bruising. The context he’d seen it was—different (it had taken days and days to fade, the black-blue marks stained his skin.) This was simply murderous intent, the Void being used as a tool to kill.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo finally opened his mouth. “Get all your men out of the district. I’ll handle it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Officer Mair blinked. “You’ll—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll handle it.” Corvo fixed the officer with a look. “Anyone still in the area tonight, and I’m going to assume they’re a hostile.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mair lifted the cigarette from her mouth. “Understood.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Accounts on heretic magic were wildly varied, and any counter to them even more so. Gristolians were less superstitious than Serkonans, which meant that many mentions out of the Outsider in books and studies were wrapped up in phrases like ‘some say’ and ‘never been proved’ and ‘natural philosophers debate.’ Corvo snorted in annoyance as he made his way through what tomes he could find.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was one avenue that he could pursue in the scant amount of time left to him before nightfall. Corvo spent the afternoon skulking in the Abbey of the Everyman, listening to muted voices behind heavy metal masks. When he secured what he needed, he sprinted for Clavering Boulevard with only a few drops of sunset left to spare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud liked to go high; every time Corvo had seen the man he’d been perched up on a roof. So he fought down every instinct he had that told him to tuck himself on a rooftop and wait. It was time for a different kind of hiding. Daud would be expecting Corvo to be hidden away in some shadow, knife at the ready. He wouldn’t be expecting a civilian on ground level, gambling and making a ruckus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo had thrown dice with a frizzy-haired drunk for nearly two hours when a shadow appeared on a rooftop at the mouth of Clavering. A shadow in a red coat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He forced his gaze back onto the dice game and shouted a curse, banging at the street in what he hoped was a convincing performance. Daud’s form detached from the roof in a wisp of black smoke and reappeared on an adjacent eave. Corvo swallowed thickly, waiting for the form to cotton onto his presence. It didn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, is it true? You threw out the Blackers?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The frizzy-haired man coughed wetly. “Ach. I had renters willing to pay double what those choffers were giving me for the flat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whole family, out on the streets.” Corvo pitched his words so that they would reach the shadow. He watched on tenterhooks as Daud paused, clueing into the conversation. Bait taken. Now to reel him in. “How many kids did she have? Three?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you, some kinda priest? Go preach your Strictures somewhere else.” The man spit a wad of phlegm on the cobblestones, and Corvo grimaced in distaste. “Lotsa single mothers got kids. Lotsa single mothers have </span>
  <em>
    <span>sick</span>
  </em>
  <span> kids. Doesn’t mean I gotta take a cut outta my bottom line to give some snotty whelp a comfortable spot to die.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo had intended on striking at Daud before he could move against the frizzy-haired landlord. He revised that opinion. After, yes. After would be better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The shadow was gone from the eave of the roof. Corvo scanned the area discreetly, seeing nothing. He just hoped that his little prize from the Abbey evidence locker would work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The frizzy-haired man was rambling something, having forgotten about the dice game. “Listen, I’m fucking sick of it. Sure, people need houses, I can even give them that. But why the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> do I have to be the one to give every sad-faced bastard and bitch a roof over their heads? I’m just saying—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man screamed. An inky-black tendril coiled tighter around his ankle. A hulking shape materialized from the darkness. “What exactly,” a familiar gravelly voice intoned, “were you saying?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s eyes skated right off Corvo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bonecharm hummed against his breastbone, heretical and terrifying and the only thing that allowed Corvo to sit here, unnoticed by the Outsider’s man. The reports tucked against the charm had described it as ‘having the uncanny ability to make those that look at its wearer pay little attention to them.’ Corvo swallowed dryly and watched Daud’s long knife cut a red ribbon across the frizzy-haired man’s throat. He gurgled only once, then slumped dead over the dice.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Now,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Corvo thought dimly, watching the tendril skate over the drops of blood. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Right now, Corvo.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He drew his sword and struck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sword came so quick and out of shadows. Daud was still focused on the wretch he’d yanked off his feet, teeth on edge with anger, when there was a dull flash of steel. If Daud had been any less of a heretic and a swordsman the blade would have plunged neatly between the fifth and the fourth ribs on his left side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instinct made him thrust an arm in its way, diverting it just enough. The tentacle holding the dead man dissolved in that same split-second and reformed, coiling around the sword arm of the attacker. Daud pulled the appendage as tight as he could, knowing it would make bones creak and groan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was over as quickly as it started. All movement ceased and Daud registered the pain. The sword had grazed his arm and struck the meat on his side. He felt the warmth spread as blood poured from the wound, but he knew it had not hit anything vital. Still hurt like a bitch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only then he lifted his eyes to the attacker. Barely a second had passed as he’d made his assessment, but the man was already trying to back away. His teeth were bared in a snarl and Daud almost recoiled when he finally recognized him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s eyes were blazing with anger. Somehow he managed to hold on to his sword, even when the bones in his wrist must’ve been groaning under the pressure. Daud squinted and then he heard it: a familiar murmur of a bonecharm. Even as he focused his eyes on Corvo’s face, his mind wanted to skate over it and deem him unimportant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, firebrand,” Daud said in a low tone. He stepped just close enough for Corvo to make one last swing with the sword, and struck the blade from his hand. It clattered away into the darkness. Corvo snarled at him. Daud gave him an appreciative smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice try. Didn’t know the Royal Protector is a little heretic who uses bonecharms. Gotta say, had you waited just a second longer, you might have made it.” Daud took a step closer, and when Corvo tried to punch him he wrapped another tentacle around his wrist and slammed him against the filthy wall of the alley. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That is, if you wanted to actually kill me,” Daud went on in the same low, unaffected tone. The truth was, his cock was definitely showing interest in the situation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you,” Corvo spat. He tried to yank his arms free, but they were pinned snugly against the wall. “Let me go!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm, I don’t think so.” Daud watched Corvo’s face. His hand shot out, too fast for Corvo to bite him, and Daud gripped his chin. “The marks have faded, then. How many days did it take?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo glared at him, but even through his gloves Daud felt Corvo’s pulse kick up. It drove a dark grin onto his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have been thinking about you, firebrand. Or Corvo, if you prefer. I know quite a bit about you. Of course, given the fact that you tracked me down, I take it you know something about me as well.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a heretic,” Corvo growled. “You lead a whole gang of murderers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud cocked an eyebrow, waiting. Corvo finally stopped trying to pull his arms free. He was dressed in a nondescript black jacket and worker trousers, nothing even close as fancy as what Daud had seen him wearing last time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your name’s Daud,” Corvo finally finished. There was a sullen challenge in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud smirked. He was honestly impressed. If Corvo had managed to find out his real name, he had truly put his mind to this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you already gave me a name, didn’t you?” Daud murmured. He gave in to the temptation and stepped closer. Corvo stiffened when their chests pressed together. Daud could feel the bonecharm where it hummed under his shirt. He kept his hand on Corvo’s jaw to avoid getting headbutted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, firebrand, now that we’re done with the pleasantries…” Daud leaned to brush his lips against Corvo’s ear. The man shivered, although it was hard to tell when he was still shaking with rage. “Why don’t you tell me the real reason you came to find me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud felt Corvo swallow, before speaking. His voice was definitely going hoarse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a fucking criminal and a degenerate,” he hissed as he tried to turn his face away from Daud. “And you made this personal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Personal, you say?” Daud actually laughed as he let Corvo go. Their eyes met, gray and brown, amusement and flushed anger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you say so,” Daud added when Corvo only kept glaring at him. Before the man could react, Daud folded on his knees and pressed his palm against the front of Corvo’s trousers. Delicious heat and a growing bulge greeted him there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s see,” Daud hummed. In a swift motion of his smaller knife, he slashed through the fabric. Corvo made a startled gasp when he felt the knife graze against his groin, and Daud grinned up at him. “I have a distinct feeling you rushed into this without a solid plan, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me go!” Corvo’s voice was low and menacing. It was in a sharp contrast to how hard he was, even as the cool night air and perpetual Dunwall mist touched his skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will, firebrand,” Daud assured him. He carefully peeled off the glove on his left hand and gave Corvo a harsh stroke. The man gasped and his thighs trembled. “Just as soon as I give you a little something to take the edge off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud swallowed him down before Corvo could stage another protest or worse, remember his legs were free. Daud could have easily bound them as well, but he wanted a challenge. Thus far, Corvo had only been spitting insults at him. It was endearing, but Daud knew it wasn’t what either of them had in mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo let out a breathy, reluctant moan as Daud took his whole cock in, throat working. He slid up, back down, and that was the time it took Corvo to remember what was happening. Daud grazed his teeth against the glans and looked up, just in time to see the rage and mortification flash in Corvo’s eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly strong thighs bracketed his head and wrapped around him. Daud felt Corvo cross his ankles behind his head, and he braced for the impact. It still knocked the breath out of him when Corvo squeezed, harsh and unforgiving.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His own cock was dripping by now. Daud tightened the tentacles and rubbed his tongue against Corvo’s length.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo could catch just enough of what was going on by the dim lantern-light, propped up by the dice and the cooling body of the landlord. Flickers of black, the slope of Daud’s back. At this angle, he couldn’t properly choke Daud out, only cut off the blood flow. Which would feel all the same to Daud, Corvo’s mind chimed in unhelpfully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo twisted his hips to try and get a better angle, and Daud chased him with his tongue. Corvo groaned as his cock bumped the back of Daud’s throat. Angrily he jerked his hips, pushing in further, punishing, and Daud gagged. The throaty sound made Corvo’s cock pulse. He shoved in again, deeper, his teeth grinding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Motherfucker,” he ground out, fucking into Daud’s mouth as cruelly as he could. His groin was pressed snugly against Daud’s face, nose brushing the dark trail of hair, and the assassin spluttered. It hadn’t been the first time that Corvo had choked someone out, but it would be the first time he used his </span>
  <em>
    <span>cock</span>
  </em>
  <span> to do it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s fingers were sudden and cold against his hole, and Corvo jerked. Daud snuck in a breath and Corvo cried out in displeasure, forcing himself down the man’s throat again. “Fucking— don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> that!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud slid two fingers inside and scissored them, stretching Corvo’s rim. The feeling was like a backhand to the face and Corvo moaned, cock twitching dangerously in Daud’s mouth. Corvo bit his lip until he tasted blood. The tendrils squeezed his wrists tighter and Corvo thumped his ankles against Daud’s back. He had to be dizzy by now; no one could hold their breath forever (unless the Outsider’s man could?)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo forced his eyes open and looked down at Daud. The man was kneeling, mouth stretched wetly around his cock, and he— Corvo’s breath caught. A thick, dark tentacle gripped Daud’s own thigh tightly, pressing wetly into the man’s ass. Daud’s free hand was at his cock and he stroked it hard and fast, eyes screwed up with pleasure. Corvo’s mind sprinted off ahead of him—Daud spread-eagle on his own bed, letting the Void have its way with him, spending all over himself with those deliciously gruff moans—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cum spattered against Corvo’s bare thighs as Daud shuddered out his own completion. His throat convulsed around Corvo’s cock, swallowing, and Corvo tipped back his head with a frustrated scream as the motion tipped him over too. He hung on through it as well as he could, stealing most of the pleasure from the action. Daud stroked himself unevenly and milked every last drop from his cock. His shoulders slackened and he wobbled briefly, just once, before the black tentacles slithered up his back to pull Corvo’s ankles apart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo bared his teeth, cock still half-hard and glinting in the lantern-light. Daud cracked his neck, rubbing at the livid red marks that were already starting to darken. “Didn’t think you had it in you, firebrand,” he said, and somehow his asphalt voice was even rougher. He rubbed at his throat with all the languid grace of a cat who’d just caught the canary. He caught Corvo’s look and grinned. “Well don’t you just look pissed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you,” Corvo rasped. His cock hung heavy between his legs, unsatisfied, and his hands were again stained black and blue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck me,” Daud agreed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo struggled weakly against the coils, but stopped when it was clear how futile it was. The man had…changed, somehow, since Corvo saw him last. Daud—Cooper—had always been intimidating, but it was the natural aura of a man who knew how to handle his sword and his tongue. Now, it was…something else, something more primal. Daud’s movements reminded Corvo of the great black cats brought in from Pandyssia, panthers with paws as big as Corvo’s face who padded silently through the undergrowth. The tendrils moved like natural extensions of Daud’s body. Corvo licked his lips nervously. What exactly was he going after, here?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He snarled as Daud’s hand snuck into his lapel. “I’m keeping this,” Daud announced, waving the bonecharm in front of Corvo’s face. “You’re welcome to try and get it back. In fact, I hope you do.” He leaned in, nuzzling his face against the join of Corvo’s neck and shoulder. “Maybe you’d get caught by my men on the way in. They might ask to have a crack at you. Maybe I’d let them, maybe I wouldn’t. Assuming you’d even get that far.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo jerked his shoulder, trying to catch Daud on the underside of his chin. “With that fire, though. Maybe you will.” He dragged his nose up Corvo’s chin, inhaling. “I’d love to see you try. Get into my room, dripping with sweat, those dark eyes fixed on your prize. Climbing into my bed.” Daud shivered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo opened his mouth to bite back some reply, but all he could think of was the last time they were in a bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud squeezed Corvo’s cheeks with his fingers and kissed him hard on the mouth. “See you soon, firebrand,” he breathed hotly. Then he was gone, in a puff of Void-cold air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jessamine’s hands were feather-light as she stroked Corvo’s hair. “Honey,” she whispered, nuzzling her face into the top of Corvo’s head like she did the hounds. “My Serk.” She canted her hips, and Corvo fought off a wave of nausea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Kaldwins were not straightforward. They came at you at angles, in small signals that you had to learn to understand or suffer the consequences. Jessamine having to </span>
  <em>
    <span>tell</span>
  </em>
  <span> Corvo to get her off would have ruined the whole thing, and he would have found himself with cold dinners and icy barbs for a week. So he lifted his hand and pressed his thumb to her clit, crooking two fingers inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sighed breathily, tipping her head back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo did his job.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She fell asleep immediately after, and Corvo lay next to her side woodenly. She preferred to wake up to him at her side, despite the stares. No one could touch the Empress, after all, and what happened to Corvo when he slunk back to his bunks were hardly her concern.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The only person Corvo had ever fallen asleep next to willingly was Daud. Corvo closed his eyes and imagined that it was him, instead,</span>
</p><p>
  <span>and then he woke up, blearly, alone in the Empress’ bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A note had been slid under the door by a courier. Corvo slipped out of bed and padded over, picking the paper up off the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Lord Protector—</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>On the request of my father, I will be attending the Pottershead Scientific Convention. It is his insistence that for this event, I am flanked by a more traditionally educated attache. Not what I would prefer—your place is at my shoulder—but this is a temporary problem that will pass. Soon, we will be together without interference.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>We will return in a week’s time. Keep your hands off yourself while I am away.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo washed his hands at the washbasin and lit the note on fire. It left a tiny scuff of soot when it burned out, and he rubbed it away carefully with his thumb.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A week’s time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud was alone in what passed for his office when he got the unmistakable feeling that something was— not amiss, but different. He never knew if it was part of the Void spreading around him like a spider’s web, or just his instincts, but something alerted him to the feeling that he was not alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The building was huge and old, flanking the Rust District. The previous owner had been bought out by Berrington Ironworks, and then no one had moved in. Not before Daud and his men had found the place suitable for their brand of business. By now, the building was a known waystation for all sorts of people deemed unsavory or not fit for polite society.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud listened to the familiar creaks and groans as he waited. He knew that if the Royal Protector had managed to track him down this far, it was time to start looking into a new base. His business was expanding, and sharing a house with mundane robbers and killers didn’t suit his agenda. Not when he was growing into a threat in human form.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud sat with his back to the door, and when it finally opened he smiled. There was a silence, but when Daud didn’t turn around he heard the door close. Then light footsteps crept closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud raised his hand and the steps stopped immediately. It sent a thrill of satisfaction down his spine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well done,” Daud said quietly. When no movement followed, he finally got to his feet and turned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo met his gaze </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost </span>
  </em>
  <span>steadily. Daud took a while to look him over, but there was only a stiff tension in his body, cast into the set of his jaw and shoulders. No injuries, no signs of scuffle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Made it this far,” Daud said. He stepped closer, and Corvo’s shoulders crept up. He didn’t move, not even when Daud was close enough to touch. Daud had a few inches on him, and he was forced to tilt his head slightly upwards to hold his gaze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s long hair was in a simple ponytail. He wore his customary clothes again, sword and pistol strapped to his belts. He looked every bit as capable and angry as Daud expected, but something was different. Daud couldn’t decipher whether it was good or bad, and in the end it didn’t really matter. He didn’t know if they were enemies, but they sure as Void weren’t friends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So,” he murmured, walking around Corvo. The man swallowed when Daud slipped out of his field of vision. “Now that we’re here…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud slipped his hand under Corvo’s hair and cradled the back of his neck. It was and wasn’t a threat. The muscles under his bare fingers jumped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a mystery, Corvo,” Daud whispered. He stroked the skin and felt gooseflesh erupt. “And I can’t abide a mystery.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud wrapped his left arm loosely around Corvo’s waist in a mockery of a lover’s embrace. The man was so tense he felt like he would crack any moment now, but he remained perfectly still and silent. Grudging admiration made Daud chuckle. He would have drawn his knife by this point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You keep finding me, keep tracking my steps, even when both of us know you’d like nothing better than to slit my throat. Yet you refrain. You make me curious, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The nickname had been used as an insult in the past, but now Daud let it slip out almost like a praise. The effect was immediate; Corvo shuddered in his arms. His hand twitched towards his sword, but nothing happened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud frowned. Something wasn’t right. Nothing about them crashing together was right, of course, but tonight Corvo was just a touch too quiet, too restrained.  He made his decision.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seeing as you’re not in a talkative mood, I think I know what you need.” Daud stepped back, far enough that they were no longer touching. Corvo sucked in a breath and made to turn, but Daud pushed him towards the table. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hands against the desk, firebrand. Don’t move.” Up until now Daud had asserted his dominance by violence and tricks. He was curious to see whether Corvo would obey just his words. Given his odd mood, anything seemed possible. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the silence that followed Daud mulled over the oddness of the situation. The Fugue Feast was supposed to have been just a one-time thing, yet there they were. Caught in some skewed orbit around each other because—what? Because Daud was intrigued by the bodyguard? Because he got off on Corvo protesting, yet clearly needing the abuse? Because of what he’d seen—?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo stopped his thoughts on their tracks by stepping to the desk and leaning his hands against it. His back bowed gracefully as he planted his feet on the floor, just far apart from each other to look casual. Daud smiled to himself. He walked closer and ran his hand down Corvo’s back. Even through the wool of his heavy coat Daud could feel how tense the man was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s it,” Daud murmured. Corvo’s shoulders crept up again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud let him simmer in silence until he was sure Corvo would snap and attack him. Then he started to tug Corvo’s clothes off. He didn’t pay any mind to the sputter the man made, just stripped him out of his coat, unclasped his belts and weapons, worked his waistcoat and shirt open. By the time Daud had Corvo naked to his waist, the man was shivering. There was a feverish, uncertain look on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” Corvo finally rasped when Daud’s fingers alighted on his pants. Daud went still, standing right behind Corvo. Close enough to feel every tiny movement, feel the heat radiating from him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever I feel like,” Daud answered with a dark chuckle. “Like before, as you probably remember.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s neck flushed red at the jibe, but once again he surprised Daud by remaining still. His hands were clenched tight against the edge of the desk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud crouched down and slowly, carefully tugged Corvo’s boots off before sliding his trousers and smallclothes down too. The man made an impatient snarl and kicked them off. His chest was moving faster with his breaths as anticipation made adrenaline course through him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud remained squatting behind Corvo. He was in his shirtsleeves, and it felt heady to look at Corvo fighting his instincts to attack Daud. The man was ridiculously beautiful, like a statue a sculptor had created in their vanity. Tanned skin and sleek muscle, peppered by a scar here and there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud wrapped his hands loosely around Corvo’s ankles and then ran them up his legs. Corvo exhaled shakily. Daud spent a moment rubbing the soft skin behind his knees. He could see Corvo was getting hard, but his confusion was still evident.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So eager to please,” Daud said in a low tone. His own blood was warming as he touched Corvo. “I used to think the Empress chose you as her protector because you’re prettier than anyone else, but now I just might believe the fucked up rumours I’ve been hearing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo started like he’d been electrocuted. He turned just enough that Daud saw the wild, animal anger in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stay still,” Daud growled. He didn’t even stand up, just let his voice carry all the sinister weight he could muster up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo grabbed a glass paperweight on Daud’s desk and threw it hard. It shattered on impact, throwing glass shards into the corner of the room. Daud snarled and stepped forward, grabbing Corvo’s throat and knocking him against the desk. “What do you think you’re doing, firebrand?” he hissed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo squirmed. The walls were pressing down on him, Daud was pressing down on him, the whole damn world was boiling him like a pressure cooker, but it was so fucking good because for the first time in months, he was just—living in this moment. His mind wasn’t racing ahead, trying to predict Jessamine’s moves, trying to curtail whatever horrible reality was dawning the next day; he was just </span>
  <em>
    <span>here, </span>
  </em>
  <span>with Daud’s hand a vise around his throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud shook him. “I asked you a question, firebrand. What do you think you’re doing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo coughed. “Whatever I want,” he rasped, breathy and desperate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The assassin regarded him, the ire flickering into something cooler, more calculating. He pulled his hand from Corvo’s throat and ran his fingers down his mouth, slicking spit down his chin. “Hm,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A shudder of apprehension made its way through him and Corvo nearly bolted, but then Daud’s hand grasped his shoulder tightly and spun him around. “Hands on the desk,” he ordered. “It’s not a request.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo swallowed convulsively. He flexed his fingers, staring down at them, and watched as they slowly reached forward to grip the smooth-worn wood of Daud’s desk. Felt his back bow, his head drop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud ran his fingers down Corvo’s spine. “Hm,” he said again, the word barely audible as anything but a gravelly hum. Daud’s hands stayed on his body, but he was closer this time, skin just a breath away from Corvo’s. The assassin knelt back down to resume his prior position.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Warm hands cupped his thighs, kneading the coils of muscle there. Corvo let out a breath and his head dropped further. Daud mouthed at the inside of his thigh. “Pick up your sword, Corvo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His brow furrowed, and he opened his mouth to question it—then Daud bit again, harder, and Corvo gasped. He knelt slowly, giving Daud time to adjust, and felt the man’s tongue lap slowly at his balls as Corvo picked up the sword with shaky hands. Corvo lifted himself back up and slid his hands back on the desk, gripping the sword underneath one palm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud worked his way up Corvo’s body slowly, kissing and kneading a track from his ass, to his back, up to his shoulders. He draped himself over Corvo’s back and Corvo had to spread his legs to prevent the other man’s bulk from knocking him onto the desk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You nearly had me, that night on Clavering.” Daud’s hand smoothed down Corvo’s arm, fingertips running from his forearm, to his elbow, thumb rubbing a small circle on the inside of his wrist before his fingers splayed out to mirror Corvo’s grip on the sword. “I nearly came on the spot, thinking about that,” he purred. “The little slut tied up on my bed at Fugue, nearly running me through. I’ve come thinking about that more than once.” Corvo shuddered, moaning. Daud tightened his grip on Corvo’s hand. “I thought about you kneeling and licking up my blood and cum on the street. On your hands and knees.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Void, but it felt good to press against Corvo. Daud moved his hips with small, lazy jerks, nudging his still clothed cock against his ass. Corvo was gripping the sword and the desk so hard his hands were shaking. Whatever had made him lash out only a moment ago was as good as forgotten.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud pressed a kiss to the sweaty neck and then started to work his way back down. Lips, tongue, teeth, all of them made Corvo twitch and stifle moans. He didn’t try to move, and Daud was smiling as he finally crouched again. With a nudge, Corvo spread his legs wider. Daud closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of him, and the tendrils of Void answered his wordless call. Corvo gasped as they slithered up his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What—what is that?” Daud heard him swallow, and he grazed his teeth against Corvo’s ass before answering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re a part of the Void,” he murmured. “Part of me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud didn’t have to look up to see what happened when Corvo sputtered. He could feel it, the wet heat of Corvo’s mouth and the threat of teeth. A breath hissed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s it, firebrand. Open up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud didn’t wait for an answer. He spread Corvo’s cheeks and licked a filthy smear over his hole. Corvo made a muffled mewl against the tentacle, but his ass canted up for better access, legs shuffling open. Daud grinned as he dove in again, watching Corvo arch his back. He caught a glimpse of the tentacle fucking Corvo’s mouth. Daud couldn’t put the feeling to words; he only knew he felt everything Corvo was doing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud traced his tongue over the perineum. He refrained from touching himself and focused all of his attention on Corvo; tongue slicking the rim before pushing in, just the tip and then out, hot breath ghosting over it until Corvo gave an impatient grunt. Daud spread him wide open and fucked his tongue as deep as he could reach, and the man sobbed. There was another tentacle wrapped around his cock, but it wasn’t moving, not yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud kept eating Corvo’s ass and ran his fingers down the tendril. The slick was familiar, and Daud pulled his tongue out just long enough for Corvo to make a protesting sound. His fingers sank in easily, and Corvo twitched against it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So easy for me,” Daud breathed. He stood up, knees protesting, and kissed Corvo’s trapezius sloppily. “Have you been fucking your own fingers, firebrand? You’re so loose and ready.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo managed a nod, and then the tentacle came free with a wet pop. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Corvo gasped, pushing his ass against Daud’s fingers, all four of them. “Yes, please, I—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud bit down, making Corvo moan. It took him only a moment to pull his fingers free and free his cock from his trousers, but it was long enough for Corvo to turn to look at Daud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes were wide and feverish. Daud wondered if Corvo could see the changes, if they made him scared or more hungry for whatever this was. The tendrils coiled around Daud, licking at his thighs as he stepped closer again. He pressed Corvo against the desk and kissed him hard. Corvo opened up with a throaty moan. He tasted like the slick, vaguely salty, and his breaths were coming in uneven gasps. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Coop, please, I need—” The words were muffled between them, and seeing Corvo’s mouth stained black and blue made Daud growl. He seized Corvo’s thighs into a tight grip and hefted him up. His ass ended up on the desk, and Daud finally pushed in. Both of them moaned, Corvo’s voice high with need, Daud’s almost like a rumble of thunder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo shrank back against the wall, shuffling as far back on the desk as he could, away, away, away— and Cooper kept pushing forward into the space, pulling at Corvo’s legs to keep his cock buried inside his ass. He groaned, tensing at the intrusion, and bit at Cooper’s fingers when they played around his slicked-up lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Coop—</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daud, </span>
  </em>
  <span>dammit, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Daud</span>
  </em>
  <span>—chuckled darkly, and it had a hint of a growl in it. Had it always? “You think I give a shit about what you need</span>
  <em>
    <span>?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> He rolled his hips, luxuriating in the feeling, and Corvo groaned. “You’ve got me interested, firebrand, I’ll give you that. Maybe I should peel you open, see what’s inside.” He bit at Corvo’s skin like he was truly considering it. “Should do it when I’m fucking you. Watch the Void spill out of you. Or maybe your slutty little ass would be too clenched, keeping me inside.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s brain was on fire; every word Cooper said was a lit match on dry grass. He clawed at Coop, drawing blood on his scalp, and the man just laughed, unpeeling more tentacles from his body to wrap around Corvo’s limbs. “Don’t,” Corvo breathed, voice reedy. Not because he wanted Daud to stop, but because he wanted to know that the man </span>
  <em>
    <span>wouldn’t.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Cooper laughed and snapped his hips hard, dragging against Corvo’s prostate, granting Corvo’s wish like it was the easiest thing in the world. Corvo snarled, fingers twitching against his bonds. He wanted to rake them down Cooper’s skin, dig furrows into his arms ‘til they flowed red, throw himself against the rocks until he was dashed to nothingness. He wanted to stay here forever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The realization hit him like a slap. Corvo blinked, inwardly reeling. He felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>safe,</span>
  </em>
  <span> safe here with Gristol’s most infamous assassin, surrounded by his people who would kill him in an instant. He had been pulled into Daud’s orbit without noticing and now it was too late to pull back. Not that he wanted to. What Corvo wanted to do was sink his blade into the man’s belly, pull him open and crawl inside and never come out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cooper ground against him lazily, drawing out one pleasurable moment into a syrupy sweet expanse. It was too much; Corvo couldn’t hold himself up. He slumped, breathing hard, and let Cooper’s Void-self support his weight. “Coop.” His voice was barely audible. He was begging. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Coop—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The tendril around Corvo’s cock tightened just a hair, and the tip dragged slick and precum around the head of his cock. Corvo gasped out a curse, hips bucking. When was the last time he’d felt like this? Every time he’d been in bed with Jess he’d held onto his mind with a desperate grip. One slip and it’d be his end. But Daud demanded his self-preservation, pulled it out with force and discarded it on the floor. And Corvo gave it, fuck him, sacrified it without hesitation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cooper’s thrusts had levelled out into a punishing, deep rhythm. “Go on,” he commanded, voice growing harsher. “Tell me what you were going to say. Right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo whined senselessly. Focusing was impossible—every scrap of attention devoted to Daud’s cock buried in his ass. He jerked his hand hard enough to dislodge one of the Void-tendrils. Cooper growled, snapping two more in its place. “Right fucking now, firebrand, or I’ll make you regret it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo gasped, vision blurry as his climax raced up within him. “Don’t make me,” he gasped, writhing. “Don’t— </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t make me go back!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everything went still. Daud stopped moving, the tendrils halted, just holding Corvo in place. Daud looked at Corvo, took in the blush, the feverish look in his eyes, tears leaking out and mixing into the mess of slick and spit on his face. Corvo’s breaths were coming wet and uneven.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Don’t make me go back—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud thrust deeper with a growl he couldn’t recognize. Corvo cried out. The tentacles holding his hands peeled off and suddenly he was gripping Daud’s hair, pushing and pulling, and the rhythm the two of them picked up was nothing short of frantic. Corvo’s nails were digging into Daud’s scalp, and Daud pulled against the sting as he fucked deeper, deeper, until there was nothing separating their bodies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud remembered the rumors. He remembered the half-formed ideas that had been floating around his head since the Fugue; ideas he had not wanted or dared to acknowledge because they would be complicated beyond all belief. They were ideas that made him burn with the need to claim. Sheer want and need.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not going back, firebrand,” Daud ground out, against Corvo’s lips. The kiss that followed was bruising, teeth ripping into lips, both of them tasting blood. “You’re mine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but saying it felt good. It felt wrong and filthy and amazing, and Daud choked on his breaths when he suddenly broke; his cock felt immeasurably heavy inside Corvo, the words vibrating through them both again and again. All thoughts were wiped out in the mind-shattering climax.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo clenched tight around him as he shouted, cum splattering Daud’s chest. He scrabbled to hold on to something, gripping Daud tighter.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yes, yes, yes.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yes, please, Coop, please—”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Corvo’s voice gave out, and Daud bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as he felt himself swell, fill Corvo completely. The rest vanished into a red haze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud woke up when Corvo stirred. He glanced at the window, but it was still dark; they had been asleep for only a couple of hours. Corvo mumbled something and then settled again, and Daud huffed a weary sigh. He wasn’t feeling like moving just yet, and judging by the state of him, it wouldn’t have been possible either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud closed his eyes again and tightened his grip around Corvo. The man was laying on top of Daud, breathing deeply and looking exhausted to the bone. Judging by how slow Corvo’s heartbeat was, he hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep for quite some time. Daud tried to remain still, but every shift made him feel his cock; it was still snugly stuck inside Corvo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d noticed the knot around the same time as the tentacles had become more prominent. Daud hadn’t paid it much mind, chalked it off as yet another weird thing brought on by the Void. He’d thought it wouldn’t happen when he was fucking someone else, or that it wouldn’t get big enough to cause troubles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Daud had come back to his senses, laying on top of Corvo on the table, the younger man had been passed out cold. It would have been hilarious, had Daud’s cock not been stuck inside Corvo’s ass. Every moment made him grit his teeth against the clash of pain and pleasure. It had been obvious that forcibly pulling out would injure Corvo and him both, and while Daud had no qualms about hurting people, this felt vaguely disgusting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he’d just transversed them both to his tiny flat, cleaned up the best he could, and let himself fall asleep as well. Daud had reasoned that he’d wake up if Corvo tried anything. Some deep, primal part of him whispered other things, about how amazing it felt to be stuck like this, how it meant Corvo was </span>
  <em>
    <span>his.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud didn’t believe in owning people, but making any sense of the Void was a futile effort. He drifted back into a doze, letting the thoughts come and go as they pleased. Corvo had asked to stay. That was enough for now. Daud would peel back the layers once he woke up, reveal what was going on in that head of his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Corvo.” Jess’ voice was soft, honey-sweet. Her fingers danced around his mouth and chin.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He twisted, feeling sick and burning with arousal. This was wrong, he didn’t— he tried not to feel this with Jess, not anymore. But he was so full and his mind was on fire, liquid with pleasure. “Jessamine,” he mumbled around her mouth, forcing his leaden limbs to move. “I don’t—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She held him down effortlessly, and Corvo moaned at the pressure. Jess slid her fingers into his mouth and they were cool, slick—a tentacle, actually, dark and deep as the Void. Something was filling him, dragging against the most sensitive parts of him. Corvo rolled his hips and moaned again.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Cooper pulled the tentacle back, looking at him with those deep, dark eyes. Jessamine was gone now. No, not gone, but—</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Corvo was holding his sword, and it was stained with blood. Cooper’s hand closed around his, almost reverent. He lifted the sword, licking off Jessamine’s blood. Then he moved it in his hand, sliding it gently into Corvo’s abdomen. It was a wet slide of pleasure and pressure. Corvo’s breath caught, wetness smearing the space between them.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You’re mine,” Cooper purred, fucking into him deep and slow. His body rocked to Cooper’s rhythm, cock throbbing in time.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Corvo murmured in his sleep, face flushed red, rutting tiny circles against Daud’s cock still stuck deep inside of him. The knot strained against his hole, glistening wet with slick. His ass was stained black and blue with the Void and leaked something wet, viscous, and entirely of Corvo’s own making. His brow furrowed in his sleep and he groaned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Waking came slower, like wading through a marsh. At first Daud was only aware of the pleasure, how it gradually fanned a flame inside him, and before he even opened his eyes he knew he was moving again. Corvo was making soft, high sounds into his neck, nose tucked under Daud’s jaw and his breaths making the skin slick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud forced his eyes open when Corvo made a particularly loud moan. His hands were gripping the man by his hips, his own moving slow. Daud bit his lip. He could still feel the knot. It had shrunk down enough to move, but apparently his Void-enforced libido was not sated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Coop,” Corvo gasped. Daud turned to look, and realized with a jolt that Corvo was still asleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It should have been impossible. Corvo was every bit a fighter. That Daud was able to fuck him while he remained unconscious felt a whole new level of dangerous. Daud dug his fingers into the meat on Corvo’s thighs and gave a harsh thrust. Pleasure slammed into him; everything was oversensitive from stimulation, and Corvo shouldn’t be this wet and warm, not when it had been hours when they’d…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s fingers met the point where his cock and Corvo’s body joined, and then he drew his hand back. He went still as he blinked away the rest of the sleepy haze and tried to wrap his brain around it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo was—leaking something. It wasn’t cum, or leftovers of the slick, either. It was viscous and slippery, pale black in color. Without thinking, Daud licked his fingers. It tasted like sex; he couldn’t find any other way to describe it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Daud?” Corvo’s voice was muffled but more alert now. His fingers twitched when Daud rolled his hips, and then gripped Daud’s biceps hard. Daud could feel more of the odd slick dribble out. Corvo’s cock was growing hard between their bodies. When the younger man raised his head and blinked at Daud, he looked completely debauched. Lips stained black and blue, hair a riot of black curls, eyes unfocused and hungry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s happening?” Corvo rasped. Daud resumed fucking him, because staying still was impossible. Corvo felt so good, and he was still lax from sleep, draped over Daud and shivering as the knot moved inside him. Corvo shifted slightly, and then gasped. Daud grinned up at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t try to move too much, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck.” Corvo groaned weakly. His legs felt like gelatin, spread and draped on either side of Daud’s hips, and his body was unnaturally heavy. He struggled to keep his head upright, gripping Daud’s sides, and eventually dropped his forehead to the pillow with a moan, canting his hips up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s cock filled him to the brim, far more than should have been possible. A thick swell strained his ass and rubbed up against his prostate with every movement Daud made. Corvo swallowed thickly, breath wet against Daud’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something slick ran between his legs, dripping down his balls and onto Daud’s cock. It was completely foreign and hummed with Void magic. Feeling sparked. “What—what did you do to me,” Corvo gasped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud chucked, a threatening sound in the dim room. He snapped his hips harshly then pulled back. The swell of his cock strained against Corvo’s hole, stretching his rim. Corvo choked. Daud rolled his hips back, nesting himself deeper into Corvo’s ass again, and the pressure eased from his hole only to build in his prostate. He whined nonsensically and bit down on Daud’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something slim ran over his chin. Corvo jerked—</span>
  <em>
    <span>Jess’ fingers, tasting like clean skin and rose-scented lotion—</span>
  </em>
  <span>but, no, it was salty, black and familiar, and Corvo opened his mouth with a shudder. A small tentacle the size of Daud’s thumb slipped inside and Corvo closed his lips around it, sucked, his cock jerking at the way it moved across his tongue. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This is wrong,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought dimly. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I should be back there. I shouldn’t be here.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Every fiber of his being protested when he pushed weakly against Daud. “Gettoff,” he mumbled, because he had to. He tried to get a knee under himself to lever his body from Daud’s grip, but it slipped on the warm sheets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shh, Corvo. Shh.” Daud slid his arms around Corvo’s waist as he kept up the lazy rhythm. Corvo was trying to get upright, and if he started to fight he’d probably hurt both of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re here,” Daud murmured. His voice was always rough, but now it came out like a rumble, deep within his chest. “Stop fighting it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He dug his fingers into the knots of muscle, and Corvo made a helpless groan as he slumped down again. Daud kneaded the muscles shifting under his palms, and at some point Corvo picked up the movement; when Daud went still Corvo kept moving, fucking himself on Daud’s cock. The knot was definitely going down now, because the range of movement was getting bigger again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo raised his chin again. A slim tendril was moving inside his mouth, and Daud bit his own lip hard at the sight. Corvo’s eyes were almost closed as he sucked on the tentacle, hips rolling steadily. Daud pressed a thumb at the corner of Corvo’s mouth, and the tentacle slipped out. Corvo bit his thumb, but it was almost lazy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit, firebrand,” Daud grinned. “You’re made for this. You’re never going back to the Tower. I’m gonna keep you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pushed Corvo upright and ran his fingers over the absolute mess between their bodies. Corvo’s hazy gaze fixed on Daud’s fingers when he brought them up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And look at you,” Daud went on, rubbing the translucent black slick and admiring the way it stretched between his fingers when he spread them, “you’re such a greedy little thing. Your body knows it wants this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo flushed bright red at Daud’s words. He tried to pull away again, but Daud gripped his waist and slammed his cock deeper. He kept up the punishing pace, thighs straining as Corvo started to moan and tremble.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t,” Corvo managed, pushing his hips down onto Daud’s cock. And Daud didn’t pull away, didn’t leave him cold—Daud gripped Corvo’s side tightly, fingers overtop bruises he’d already made, and fucked him harder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s ass clenched warningly, and Corvo’s fingers scratched and scrabbled across Daud for purchase. The dusting of hair across other man’s chest was slick and wet, coarse under his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Daud,” Corvo tried, voice tight, and then, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Coop—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sssssh.” Daud hushed him absently, hips picking up their pace. “I’ve got you, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo groaned helplessly, hands scrambling for something, anything. He clutched Daud’s forearm and peeled his fingers away from his side. Daud growled as the hot rhythm between them stuttered briefly. Corvo grabbed Daud’s wrist, pulling his fingers apart, watching the slick stretch between the digits. His grip was enough for the bones in his hand to creak. Corvo sucked and licked helplessly at the slick, eyes screwed up, chasing his own taste as his orgasm barreled up inside of him—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>—and then it was there, fucking, it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>there,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Corvo was shaking apart on Daud’s cock and pushing fingers into his mouth. Slick mingled with blood as he bit down on reflex. Daud shoved his hand deeper and Corvo gagged, eyes rolling back as he rode out the pleasure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When his eyes cracked open—</span>
  <em>
    <span>Jess, brows furrowed in displeasure at Corvo’s mess on her belly, eyes steely and disgusted—</span>
  </em>
  <span>Daud was looking at him hungrily, eyes fixed on where his fingers were buried in Corvo’s mouth. Corvo breathed through it, sparks of pleasure still zinging down his spine. He tongued at Daud’s fingers sloppily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His climax was still shuddering along his spine. Daud watched as Corvo licked at his fingers, his body going lax as the tension washed away. Daud pulled his hand off, and when Corvo made a low whine he ran his fingers through the tangle of black hair and gripped it tight. Daud tugged, and Corvo didn’t so much lean as tumble down. The kiss was sloppy, wet and lazy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud manoeuvred Corvo’s boneless form off him. His cock came free with an obscene pop, and Daud grinned when Corvo made a face. A glance told Daud that his guess had been correct; the knot was still visible, but shrinking. Daud scratched at his flank idly. He’d have to figure out how this shit worked. It wouldn’t do to get stuck for hours if he had somewhere to be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo made a weak shuffle on the bed and Daud pushed him down without even looking at him. The man bared his teeth, but the effect was ruined by his utterly fucked-out expression.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stay here.” Daud kept his voice low. “I’ll be back in a moment.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t wait for an answer. The Void whispered around him, and the bedroom vanished. Daud puttered around the tiny bathroom, washing himself and then filling a chipped vat with water. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo jumped when Daud materialized back into the room. He was sitting at the edge of the bed. Daud put the basin down, threw a washcloth to Corvo, and flicked his fingers. Steam started to rise from the water.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get washed up,” Daud said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Again, he didn’t wait for Corvo to answer. Daud transversed back into his office. His mind was working hard as he picked up his clothes and dressed. He listened to the sounds coming from the next room, and tried to form a plan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t know what he expected, but when Corvo poked his head around the corner Daud was still surprised.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My clothes,” Corvo began, but Daud shook his head. He got to his feet and stepped closer. Corvo went stiff. His eyes weren’t angry, per se, but there was a furious kind of wariness there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t want to go back. Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud crossed his arms. Corvo didn’t back down. He was still naked, and gooseflesh made his skin prickle. His pupils had shrunk into tiny pinpricks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The silence dragged on, until—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You said you… You know the rumors.” Corvo almost choked on the last word. He finally looked away. His posture didn’t sag an inch, but Daud didn’t need that obvious a sign to tell him everything he needed to know. He recognized an abused person when he saw one, because he had to look at himself in the fucking mirror every day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rage that filled him was feral. It felt foreign and welcome, and only when Corvo’s eyes snapped to him Daud realized he had actually made a sound. A low, menacing growl that was definitely inhuman. He didn’t dwell on it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was just a rumor, whispered among the highest nobility; that the Kaldwins had a taste for the exotic. A very specific kind of taste, closely followed by the wish to own, to possess. Daud had listened to those whispers and he’d felt nausea crawl up his throat. He hadn’t wanted to think about what they meant, what it implied that princess Jessamine Kaldwin had picked a Royal Protector from Serkonos, a young man with no ties to the nobility or any close family.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right.” Daud’s voice was flat and cold. He took a deep breath to calm his racing pulse. “I do know the rumors.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stepped into Corvo’s space and took a hold of his chin. Corvo’s jaw was working, and every muscle was tensed as if readying for a fight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not going back,” Daud said very quietly. Corvo drew in a huge gulp of air. Daud could feel the light thrum of his pulse against his fingers. “Nobody fucking owns you, firebrand. It’s about time you admit that to yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud backed Corvo into the wall. The man’s breaths ghosted over his face, strong fingers dug into his biceps again, but Daud didn’t care. He’d seen this happen too many times, and he knew he had one chance to yank Corvo out from the Tower. Set him free. Daud didn’t stop to examine his reasons; he could hear an echo of Silvio’s greasy laugh inside his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s eyes were blazing as Daud pressed against him. “What the fuck are you talking about?” he snarled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud grinned. He could feel the Void curl around them both, cold and unfathomably deep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re going to set you free, firebrand. We’re going to kill the empress.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Corvo was sworn in as Royal Protector, the Crown had given him five things.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A sword. A pistol. A dark blue greatcoat, emblazoned with the Crown’s sigil. A key that worked to many of the Tower’s locks. A small sachet of medication.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s brow had furrowed, and he’d looked up at the issuing officer with confusion. “What is—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His query was waved away. Thinking back, Corvo couldn’t recall the expression the officer had on his face. It haunted him. “You’ll see,” the man said cryptically. Corvo felt his skin flush in embarrassment, and he shut up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He realized what the medication was for a few weeks later, shivering and nude in the bathroom, with Jessamine languishing contendly on the bed. He’d taken the pill with shaky fingers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a stupidly Gristolian solution, Corvo reflected later, thinking on this to distract himself from Jessamine’s warmth at his side. The medication had to be taken with precise regularity or else lose some of its effectiveness (he had a pocket watch that Jess had gifted him for this very reason, with her name engraved inside. Like a lover). Back in Karnaca, contraceptive charms were sold cheaply by any pharmacy, and a doe-eyed look to any physician would usually result in a free one. Growing up in Serkonos, Corvo had never seen a baby that had been unplanned, unwanted. The bits of whale bone that prevented pregnancy were gifts from the ocean, and the Serkonans had exercised the gift of choice that it bequeathed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bitter derision that Dunwall had for the Outsider was confusing. Corvo had always imagined the Outsider more like the sea— capricious, giving, taking away. An inevitability. Whereas the Dunwallans seemed ready to drain the ocean out of spite. Maybe the constant strife Gristol suffered was the natural consequence of trying to stop the tides.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once, Corvo had carelessly knocked the packet of medication into the toilet. Panic gripped him. Corvo stared at the toilet bowl, blinking dumbly, feeling his heartbeat spike.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>tell</span>
  </em>
  <span> her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo was issued new bullets and medication on the first of every month. That meant eight days. There was a chance Jess wouldn’t wish for his company, or if she did, that he would be able to steer her towards less fertile pleasures. But it was too much to gamble. He visited a Serkonan imports store and purchased a tiny charm, hanging on a silver cord. Corvo wore it around his neck, tucked into his coat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d convinced Jess it was a Karnakan trinket at first. She cooed appreciatively, turning it around in her hands. His nerves jangled, but she stayed sweet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s quite beautiful,” she hummed, inspecting it with long, delicate fingers as she sat on Corvo’s cock. “You said it was from…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Aventus district,” Corvo breathed, feeling mixed pleasure and revolusion crawling up his spine. “The craftsman said—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t like it when you lie to me, Corvo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo blinked, terror washing over him like a bucket of cold water. “Empress—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wound the cord around her lovely fingers. “You’re not usually so careless, Lord Protector. Why not simply tell me about the accident with your little pills? Am I so frightening?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, Empress.” Corvo licked his lips nervously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jess sighed, disappointed, and lifted the cord off his neck. Corvo opened his mouth to protest and Jessamine gave him a withering look. “I have to teach you to be more careful,” she breathed, rolling her hips down on his still-hard cock. “Maybe this is the best way to get it through your head. I know that you weren’t well educated in these matters, but that’s no excuse.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo stared up at the ceiling. “Yes, Empress,” he said numbly. Every fiber of his being screamed out against this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jess took her pleasure, riding him with breathy little moans, and when Corvo spilled inside of her she followed him mercifully quickly. She sat there for some time, picking up a book and reading a few chapters, keeping all of Corvo’s spend carefully trapped inside. Corvo squeezed his eyes shut and pet her hair the way she liked, after, until Jessamine rolled off him with a sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She kissed his cheek, then pinched it, hard. “We’ll be keeping your medication at the nightstand, so I can ensure that you haven’t gotten clumsy with it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Empress.” Corvo said mechanically. “Thank you, Empress.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re welcome, Corvo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud gave Corvo five things. A sword. A pistol. A dark blue short coat, slung with a bandolier of crossbow ammunition. A key that worked to many of the base’s locks. And a ghostly Mark on the back of his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know I can’t get pregnant,” Corvo said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud looked at him, brows scrunched in confusion. “...Yes?” he said, a statement and a question all in one. He scratched his leg, looking down at his crotch. “Even with all of this, I doubt that has changed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo inspected the Mark. “Then what’s it for?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud smiled, another one of those predatory looks. Corvo thrilled. Daud strode to his side, slinging an arm around Corvo’s shoulders. “Look there. See that ledge, just past the open window?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Think about standing there. Then clench your hand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo licked his lips. “This is heresy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The way you feel around my cock is heresy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was, though, literally. Corvo lifted his hand, squinted his eyes, and—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>—</span>
  <em>
    <span>blinked</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The world shuddered around him. The ledge was cool beneath his feet, where as of a moment ago there had been a wood floor. Corvo rocked, nearly falling off the edge, and gasped as Daud started laughing. “What— you—!?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know how many people can do that the first time? Nobody.” Daud wiped his eyes. “Fucking nobody. You really </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> made for this, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo clung onto the edge of the building, heart racing. Had Daud realized that he could just—race away, with this? He could be out the window, never come back. “What else can it do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud grinned, and then </span>
  <em>
    <span>blinked,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and was beside Corvo. He grabbed the back of Corvo’s hair roughly, dragging him into a toothy kiss. “Firebrand,” he said, pulling back with a split lip and a grin. “It can make you free.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*** </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a gazebo in the Tower grounds. It was a new structure, built on the orders of the Empress. Daud stood on the roof of the waterlock and watched it, eyes tracking the gleaming marble arch. He waited, the night air cold against his face, until finally there was a familiar woosh of the Void.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you,” Corvo groaned. Daud turned around just in time to see the man slump down on his knees. He was breathing harshly, and his skin was clammy. “You could’ve waited for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, where’s the fun in that?” Daud grinned. He dug through his bandolier and pulled out a vial of shimmering blue liquid. Corvo looked at him with an annoyed frown, and then his eyes flickered to the potion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud didn’t answer. He thumbed off the cork, poured the remedy into his mouth, and then dragged Corvo into a kiss. The younger man sputtered against his lips, but most of the liquid was passed without trouble. Daud licked away the trickle at the corner of Corvo’s mouth. He was already looking less weary.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re so fucking disgusting,” Corvo muttered. He made it back to his feet. Daud watched as Corvo took in the Tower. It was an unusually clear night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When will the empress come back?” Daud asked. He noticed he didn’t feel the need to command Corvo, not like the others in his gang; Corvo would or wouldn’t obey him, based on his own whims, and that was what thrilled Daud. Giving Corvo the arcane bond would most likely heal some of the trauma, bring him back to a place where he could feel safer and free. He would be free to decide whether to stay or go, and if he chose the first, well...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then Daud would see just what kind of a beast Corvo Attano was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Two days,” Corvo said in a flat voice. His eyes flicked up, towards the imperial suite at the top of the Tower. “My absence has likely been noted already, however.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>People are keeping an eye on the Lord Protector, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Daud mentally translated. His expression darkened, and when Corvo turned to him, he noticed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The choice is yours,” Daud said quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo nodded. He took in a deep breath and adjusted the bundle slung across his back. Then he lifted his chin and gave Daud a dark smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thanks to Corvo’s keys and intimate knowledge of the Tower floor plan, getting to the very top wasn’t hard. Daud made mental notes on the corridors and vents as they flitted from shadow to shadow. Corvo’s footsteps were muffled against the rich carpets, and when they weren’t he still moved like a spectre. Daud watched him, ready to step in if he stumbled on the narrow ledges, but it wasn’t needed; Corvo didn’t trust the Mark yet, but he had taken to it immediately. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He moved like this was how he had been created to exist, as a shadow that haunted people’s nightmares. There was a sinuous kind of violence to his grace, and Daud drank in the sight. There were others who were equally good at being killers—Thomas was steadfast, Rinaldo had a flair for drama, Salla knew all the ways to hurt a person—but there was something so unrestrained in Corvo it made Daud feel that dark, possessive beast lift its head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If he managed to set Corvo free, he would be a deathly, beautiful ghost.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The wind at the top of the Tower was furious. It cut into the exposed skin on Daud’s face. He stood back as Corvo turned in a slow circle, taking in the monument. There was a marble and onyx statue of the late emperor. A plaque with some nonsense about his fair rule. Daud wanted to spit at it, but he contented himself with watching Corvo’s face twist with anger. In one smooth motion, the man shrugged the bundle off his back and threw it at the feet of the statue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The overcoat of the Royal Protector was made of rich, dark blue wool. Corvo dug out a bottle from the coat pocket and twisted the cap off with jerky motions. The fabric soaked up the whale oil greedily, and Daud caught the determined, almost pained expression on Corvo’s face. Then there was a match, struck and drawing a small arch against the dark.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The coat caught fire with a muted </span>
  <em>
    <span>woomph. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Corvo stood watching it burn, frozen in place. He lifted his left hand and looked at the Mark again. Daud remembered his earlier bafflement, and he laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo was stiff when Daud wrapped his arms around him from behind. Daud seized his left wrist in a hard grip and brought the Mark to eye level. With his right hand, he forced Corvo to look at it. The smoke from the burning coat was making their eyes sting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your choice,” Daud murmured into Corvo’s ear. “Each one of them, firebrand.” Corvo shivered, and then moaned loudly when Daud sucked a dark, angry mark on the skin visible over the shirt collar. Seeing Corvo dressed up in the Whaler garb made Daud’s chest feel tight, in an odd way he couldn’t quite put into words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo twisted around and kissed Daud. Daud dropped his arms to his hips and drew them together. Corvo gasped into his mouth as Daud ground against him. His hands were buried into Daud’s hair again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seriously?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud grinned. Corvo had bitten his lip again, and the wound had reopened. He tasted blood as their eyes met.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Show me where she sleeps.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The only thing keeping Corvo grounded was how mundane Daud was about the whole thing. The enormity of the task they were undertaken was paralyzing, and Corvo might have stared into the face of it forever if not for Daud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud didn’t ask ‘are you sure,’ he asked ‘where’s the best entry point.’ He didn’t ask ‘what is she like,’ he asked ‘where does she sleep.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Though, the additional meaning behind his words was hardly altruistic.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bite-sized pieces of forward motion were enough that Corvo could shuffle ahead, step by step, and not think about how much ground he was covering, just how fast he was going, how fast he was rocketing into something he’d never be able to undo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s hand was steady on his back. The man would kill for him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Had</span>
  </em>
  <span> killed for him, likely; Corvo wouldn’t know, but it would hardly shock him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo would probably kill for him too. (There was no ‘probably’ about it; Corvo </span>
  <em>
    <span>would, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he’d killed for a lot less important things than Daud.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Empress’ suite was lovely. It would have been easier to hate her if it had been tacky and ostentatious, but Jessamine’s taste was restrained. She scorned the fancy baubles and golden crepe of nobility, preferring sinuous, dark fabrics and clean lines. The curtains, bedclothes, and rugs were all dark navy blue, just like his burned-up coat had been, with gold trim on the edges. The walls were white plaster, with dark wooden paneling and hardwood floors covered up with thick shaggy rugs. The bathroom was expansive, the one luxury Jessamine allowed herself, with a tub that could fit four and special plumbing that made hot water bubble from underwater vents.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud stepped carelessly on the rug with muddy shoes, which Corvo only noticed when he realized that he himself had carefully stepped around them. “The only way in is the window, and it’s always locked. My key still works, though.” His absence was likely being treated as a fit of pique, then, or the strange comings and goings of a Serkonan. Whatever that meant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud turned a circle around the room. “Less valuable stuff in here than I thought.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She has the collection sealed up.” Corvo crossed to a wooden bookshelf on the far wall and pressed a hidden switch underneath the third shelf. There was a </span>
  <em>
    <span>hiss</span>
  </em>
  <span> as the pneumatic gear released, and the shelf split in the middle to reveal a deeper curio beneath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Her treasures,” Corvo supplied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud stepped forward, rapt. “Fuck. Sokolov himself would kill for this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jessamine’s never had to rely on him for that kind of thing.” Corvo pointed at a delicately stuffed monkey, teeth bared in a grimace. “Sokolov gave her that one. Traded it in exchange for a piece of the Morleyan siege wall. Technically it’s just on loan.” The artifacts were all lined up, with neat brass plates beneath them detailing their provenance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Some pieces were natural—spiralling horns from a mysterious breed of goat off the coast of Pandyssia, and a small vial of the same but powdered. Sokolov’s monkey. A delicate orchid, its petals like amethysts. A bloodfly encased in amber that was rumored to be the first in the new strain that later terrorized Serkonos. A stuffed albino ermine from Tyvia, posed as if it was waiting for a vole to come out of a snowbank.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Other pieces were more historical in nature. Daud’s fingers briefly touched a first edition of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Void: The Whalesong and the Stone. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The seized crown of Morleyan Empress Olaskir, laid next to the piece of siege wall from the Insurrection. A set of small vials with dried up grapes, the seeds of the first great line of Tyvian Red.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is this?” Daud’s voice was quiet, and rage simmered beneath its surface. He plucked the framed piece of parchment from a lower shelf, inspecting the words written on it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo shrugged with one shoulder, vaguely uncomfortable. “My birth certificate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud stared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were so many options in that expanse of a second. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could have destroyed the immeasurably valuable artifacts with a single gesture. He could have shouted his rage. He could have…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was an echo of a memory; burning parchment, Silvio’s laughter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly, carefully, Daud pried the frame apart. The glass came out with a click. The parchment was well-preserved. Daud looked at it for a long while. The seal was familiar; his had had the same one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here.” Daud finally pressed the parchment into Corvo’s hands. “Take care of it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned away, but he heard the unasked questions hang in the air between them. There was a shuffle as Corvo pocketed the certificate. Daud tucked the frame away into the lowest shelf. It was unlikely that her imperial majesty would notice its absence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Daud was fairly certain he wouldn’t explode with anger, he turned back towards the room. Corvo was looking around with a vaguely nauseous expression on his face. Daud followed his gaze as the bookshelf hissed back into its place, and saw it land on a small box of medicine on the nightstand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s hand was reaching for it, but Daud pulled; the delicate box sailed through the air and landed into his hand. Corvo opened his mouth, but Daud was already reading the label. Corvo’s earlier, odd words floated back to him, suddenly making sense in a way that forced acid up Daud’s throat. Another moment of absolute stillness followed; Daud grit his teeth together to stay quiet. He couldn’t go and kill every single person in the Tower. Most of them probably had no idea what their dear empress did behind closed doors. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo watched as Daud slipped the meds into his pocket. For the first time since leaving the base, his eyes were vulnerable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was easier for me to be on those,” Corvo said quietly. There was a defeated note in his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud transversed, and Corvo’s back collided with the wall. Daud growled as he bunched his fists into the dark blue fabric of the assassin coat, lifting Corvo until he was on his tiptoes. The tendrils unfurled like a shadowy threat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There is no ‘easier way’ for that, firebrand,” Daud said very slowly. “She had no right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d probably be dead if she hadn’t picked me as her Royal Protector,” Corvo spat. He tried to wrench Daud’s hands off, but his own hands were starting to shake. “Gristolians aren’t that fond of Serks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The familiar slur made Daud’s hackles rise. He slammed Corvo against the wall again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That woman had no right to claim ownership. She holds no power over you, you don’t owe her a fucking thing.” Daud heard how the rage made his voice shake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe I’m just so fucking weak I couldn’t take it, being her toy,” Corvo gasped. There was a feverish challenge in his tone, and Daud understood it perfectly; you spend enough time being told you’re less, that someone owns you, and slowly it becomes your truth. You internalize all the shit, because otherwise you’ll snap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How many years had it taken Daud to stop believing those exact same things?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud pressed so close that his nose was almost brushing Corvo’s. He bared his teeth, and the biggest tendril coiled, almost like a scorpion’s tail preparing to strike.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are not weak, firebrand,” he growled, the words rumbling from his chest like thunder. “You’re going to be free. I will give you every single tool to take revenge. No one will ever again own you, no one will ever again hurt you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s pupils were huge. They were breathing in the same air, smelling of smoke and leather and danger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The tentacles surged in and wrapped around Corvo, trapping him against the wall. He didn’t manage more than a muffled whimper before they pried his jaws open and thrust in, and Daud sank to his knees and ripped his trousers down. He sank his fingers between Corvo’s legs, making his hips buck when they found the weird, new slickness there. Corvo was still loose, and Daud didn’t even think before ripping his glove off and sinking three fingers into his ass. Corvo’s hips bucked again, and his cock jumped. Only when Daud was knuckles-deep in him, did he look up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo was staring down at Daud. His mouth was stretched obscenely around the tendril, eyes watering because of the intrusion, and his breaths were stolen here and there, frantic and raspy. He kept struggling against the tentacles, and Daud laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She kept you like a fucking plaything, didn’t she?” he snarled. He crooked his fingers and thrust again, all thoughts of being careful gone. “She thought of you as a hound, brought to heel and collared.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud swallowed Corvo’s cock down, and the man made a muffled cry around the tentacle. He gagged, and Daud let his teeth scrape along Corvo’s length harder than what was pleasant. Corvo cried out again, thrashing frantically against the Void binding him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud pulled back. He rubbed the closest tentacle until his free hand was slick and then smeared the blue and purple liquid over Corvo’s length.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She thought she could claim you,” he went on, voice reedy and shaking with anger. Corvo met his eyes with a furious glare. “She thought she had the right to do that. She thought she was better than you, when you could have slit her throat at any given moment.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He dove back in, fucking Corvo’s ass hard and fast. The tension was starting to reach a breaking point, and Corvo was shaking so badly that without the tentacles he would have probably collapsed. Daud sucked him until he could feel Corvo was on the verge of coming.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not a thing, firebrand. You’re not something to be owned, and you’re not breakable,” Daud went on. “You’re free, and you’re going to set fire to this whole fucking thing. We’ll burn it all down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo came like a punch in the gut. His cock jerked as he spilled himself, cum hitting Daud’s face. He whimpered and thrashed, legs shaking and knuckles white as snow. Daud bit the soft flesh at Corvo’s hip hard enough to draw blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Higher thought was fucking blasted out of Corvo’s mind as he spattered all over Daud’s face, choking. Here, trapped against the wall, he was a </span>
  <em>
    <span>thing</span>
  </em>
  <span> again, but a thing because he chose it; writhing and choking here for Daud because he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted to.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jessamine could have never done this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not just because of the obvious, or even because of the physical differences between them. If Jess had ever laid a hand to him, he would have realized at some point, realized that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he had hands, too.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Every slap, every gouge, every iota of fighting, every fucked up thing Daud had done with him and to him. Every single thing was a reminder that Corvo was as free as he chose to be. Nothing held back, not between two equals. Equal not only in body, now, but in bond. The magic smoked on the back of his hand. It was freedom, not just from Jess but from </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The freedom to choose. To choose to be pinned up against this wall, devoured, to crawl into this man’s bed and dig out his own heart and put it bloody on his pillow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud had hauled himself up. His whole body was pressed against Corvo in a long, hot line. Not kissing or prodding, just—breathing, sharing the same air. Corvo realized his own chest was moving rapidly against Daud’s, and his hands were fisted in Daud’s coat. He unpeeled them carefully, taking in great gulps of air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Firebrand,” Daud murmured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo knew what he wanted to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He breathed out, shivering, and curled himself into Daud. “Get onto the bed,” he rasped. “On your back. Naked.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud pulled back slowly, lip curling up as the loss of contact chafed him. He set Corvo’s feet onto the ground and made sure he could stand before pulling away further and unbuttoning his jacket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo watched, mouth dry. Daud’s chest was smattered with scars, a thick dusting of wiry black hair, and dark Void-blue speckles that coalesced to discolor his skin at the groin. His thighs were meaty and thick, peppered with scrapes from Corvo’s own fingernails, and Corvo had a brief moment where he imagined Daud snapping a man’s neck between his legs. Then, he was stepping out of his trousers, tossing them carelessly onto the muddy tracks left on the rug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud laid back against the top cover of the sheet, stretching. He put his hands behind his head leisurely and smiled. “Well?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo was on him in a flash. He crawled up Daud’s body, giving him a blistering kiss on fucked-soft lips before pivoting. He carefully settled his knees on either side of Daud’s ribs, turning away from Daud’s gaze to face his legs instead. Daud’s cock jutted out between his legs, pink at the tip and stained purplish at the base. Corvo moved the tails of his coat aside and settled himself at Daud’s crotch, kneading his hands on those thighs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He licked Daud up into his mouth, here, on Jessamine’s bed, licked him up with his pants open and Mark flaring on his hand. Daud groaned and his head thunked back against the headboard. “Power looks good on you, firebrand,” he said, voice like a box of nails. “That’s what you do with your freedom? Fuck your mouth with my cock?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo drew back and licked the tip. “The first of many things,” he sniped. He blew a breath across Daud’s wet cockhead and the man growled, pushing his hips up so that his cock dragged against Corvo’s chin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To really get a proper hold Corvo had to sink down further on all fours. He swallowed Daud’s cock messily to the root, burying his face between his legs. His hair had come undone and was fanned over the sticky mess between Daud’s legs. “Fucking shit, firebrand.” Daud thrust into Corvo’s mouth, hands fisted in Jessamine’s sheets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mouth and throat was full of Daud’s cock. Corvo pulled his hand off Daud’s thigh to touch his own neck and feel the ever so slight bulge as his throat struggled to make room. Daud growled, gaze presumably between Corvo’s legs. Slick was still running slow out of his hole, and it dripped onto Daud’s chest and face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fucking gorgeous,” Daud mumbled, and that was it. Corvo swallowed around Daud’s cock, sucking him with all of the fervor and fury he had. He grabbed Daud’s thighs and braced them, pressing on the scrapes left by old wounds. Daud yelled and spurted into Corvo’s mouth. The taste of him was salty, but now almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>briny,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and hot; Corvo could swear he could feel it settle in his guts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He licked every drop from Daud’s cock until the man shoved him off roughly. He grabbed Corvo by the back of his collar and yanked him forward, smashing both of their mouths together, slick and cum mingling again. They kissed breathlessly, writhing on Jessamine’s bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud didn’t pull back until Corvo was dizzy for lack of air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud turned over on the bed. Corvo made a sleepy grumble but didn’t wake up. They were back at the base, as safe as the two of them would ever be, and the man was dead to the world. He had one arm thrown over Daud’s belly. Almost like he wanted something to hold on to, even in sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud watched Corvo’s face. Smudges from the tendrils stood out dark, even against his tanned skin. Now his expression was calm, and when Daud let his magic brush him, Corvo’s answered with a sleepy, languid wave. Deep in a dream, resting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud looked towards the ceiling. He wasn’t used to sleeping next to anyone, and before today he would have never let a stranger into his bed. Yet here they were, and Daud felt sleep tugging at him. Something whispered that he was safer </span>
  <em>
    <span>now,</span>
  </em>
  <span> with Corvo here. It didn’t make any kind of sense whatsoever, because before tonight Daud would have willingly bet money Corvo would gladly kill him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d given Corvo the arcane bond without hesitation. All he’d needed to be absolutely, utterly convinced had been Corvo’s desperation when he begged Daud not to be forced to go back to the Tower. Corvo had taken to the Mark as well as Billie, almost better; like he had been able to breathe properly for the first time in years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud thought of the Tower. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He thought of Corvo being forced to live with his rapist, cater to her every whim, anticipate her needs, and do it without showing weakness. Daud wondered where Corvo’s family was, and if they knew what had become of their son. He knew, without a shadow of doubt, that he’d let himself be killed before he let anyone lay a hand on Corvo again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo muttered something in his sleep and turned. He pressed closer to Daud, and Daud’s throat grew tight. They hardly knew each other, and here Corvo was; treating Daud like he was worth the trust, </span>
  <em>
    <span>trusting </span>
  </em>
  <span>that Daud wouldn’t betray him, sell him back to Jessamine Kaldwin, or kill him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud pressed his nose into Corvo’s dark hair. He knew he’d fight the Void itself to keep Corvo safe. </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Here have a song I (meru) listened on repeat while writing this.<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_voh9WFbsM</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>We, uh. Apologize for nothing?</p>
<p>What you guys need to know about this fic: one of us comes up with a horny idea, the other goes "ha, amazing," and then we write about it. That being said, we're definitely headed into the monsterfucking territory, but as neither of us finds actual mpreg or such hot we're steering well clear of that. Hope that clarifies some stuff.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They didn’t talk about Jess for awhile. There had been enough talking, enough light shone on awful acts and it was good, it was very good, but that much light hurt Corvo’s eyes after so long in the dark and Daud noticed. Their nighttime hunts took them into other districts and Corvo pushed the matter of the Empress into the corners of his mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t want to think about it. Eventually, he’d have to. But he didn’t want to spoil these halcyon days with thoughts of </span>
  <em>
    <span>her.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And they were halcyon indeed. Corvo was put to use, sword whistling out of his sheath to do something more than scare off priggy noble folk who mouthed off to the Empress. It felt so good to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>useful</span>
  </em>
  <span> again, to </span>
  <em>
    <span>move, </span>
  </em>
  <span>to feel his body sing as he clashed with patrols, twisted himself through murky sewers and pried bonecharms from the stiff hands of dead men. Daud ran with his pack and Corvo ran with Daud, and he slept hard and dreamless at night.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud. For all of the fucking, he was just starting to see past the surface of the man. Enough to notice that his Whalers were all as twisted as Corvo was. Orphans, malcontents, abused.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So, Daud collected broken things. It made Corvo wary.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Daud wasn’t charismatic, like the smooth-tongued Overseers and gang leaders that collected unloved children and turned them to their own ends. The bond between Daud and the Whalers was built on shared circumstances; shared trauma. Bad childhoods and abuse were so commonly found among them that it was mundane, and that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>freeing</span>
  </em>
  <span>. No one here asked why Corvo shied away from the dark-haired, fair-skinned woman at the shop. Corvo didn’t ask why some of the Whalers felt the need to lurk in alleys and hunt the hunters that tried to pick up whatever poor bastard child Dunwall had coughed up that day. And Corvo didn’t ask why Daud had instantly understood his plight. No explanations were needed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Even so, the amount of freedom Daud gave the Whalers was shocking. They came and left as they wished, and it niggled at Corvo. Any </span>
  <em>
    <span>one</span>
  </em>
  <span> of them could have gone and squealed to the Overseers, or the guards.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He said as much to Daud one night, when the sweat was still cooling on their naked skin. Daud had hummed thoughtfully and dug his fingertips into a bruise on Corvo’s shoulder. “Some have gone to the guards, or the zealots,” he admitted. “We’ve taken care of them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>We</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The rest of the Whalers. They’re not my puppets, they have wills of their own and exert them without me. Frequently.” Daud pressed his finger in, listening to Corvo’s small hiss of pain and watching how the skin changed color when he released his hand. “They prune themselves, for the most part. It’s easy to tell the ones whose hearts aren’t really in it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They love you,” Corvo supplied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud grunted. “I don’t know about that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why else, then?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud didn’t answer. Corvo ground his teeth together, irritated, and was just about to say something ill-advised when Daud turned onto his side to face Corvo. “Are you afraid I’m going to turn you in to the Empress? I hear she’s considering offering a fat purse for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She got me for free before.” Corvo grumbled. He looked away, still irritated. “No. I’m not worried about it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, neither am I.” Daud rolled back onto his back and closed his eyes. “About you. Or any of them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So, that was that, then.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud enjoyed watching Corvo. He was pretty, sure, but more than that he was dreadfully interesting. Some digging through old archives had unearthed a lot of ancient history; Blade Verbena at sixteen, Grand Guard, advancing through the officer ranks, and then…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dunwall. The Kaldwins.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo moved with grace he wasn’t aware of. It became more and more obvious as weeks and then a month and two passed, because gradually he started to believe he was safe. He didn’t trust Daud or the rest of them, but he started to relax just enough for his personality to come out in other forms besides teeth and snarls. Daud knew the Whalers knew who Corvo was, and they were rightly afraid of him. And still a few braver ones kept heckling him with no regards to their safety, drawing him out of his shell one inch at a time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So yes. When Daud asked himself whether taking Corvo away from the Tower had been worth it, he knew the answer. The City Watch was on high alert, there were posters and promises of a reward, and their job was now objectively harder; he still wouldn’t take any of it back, because hearing Corvo laugh for the first time made Daud smile, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And it wasn’t like he did it for purely altruistic reasons. They kept fucking, and it was nothing short of fantastic. Daud never once mentioned it, but Corvo knew he was free to come and go. That included Daud’s bed, yet the man kept coming back to him. Corvo never asked to be assigned a bunk and quarters with the others, and Daud didn’t bring it up because—</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because something in him was still shifting, still changing, and Daud was apprehensive and curious to see where it would go. What he would become, and how the world would look when viewed through the eyes of a monster. Something less or more than a human. Some of his people made note of it. Daud never confirmed or denied anything when they speculated about his appearance and powers, but they did notice. Corvo did, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How’s it feel?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud didn’t bother turning around. Today had been one of those nights— when he felt like he would crawl out of his skin, and he’d needled Corvo long enough until the man lashed out. First with steel, and once Daud finally managed to disarm him and pin him facedown on the floor, with teeth and tongue and the rest of his body.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How’s what feel?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo ran his fingers through Daud’s hair, tugging slightly before moving lower. His fingers skated over his front before coming to rest on his thigh. Daud knew, without opening his eyes, that it was mottled with purple and black stains.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Being like that. Changing. Is the Outsider doing it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dunno.” Daud swatted Corvo’s hand away when it started to tickle, and Corvo just slapped him back before curling up against his side. “He hasn’t appeared in a good long while. Which suits me just fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe you’re just becoming a monster. The Void is claiming you as its own.” Corvo laughed under his breath. “You’ll fit right into the stories they tell to scare kids.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud rumbled something unflattering under his breath, about where Corvo could stick his stories and cold toes. Corvo ignored him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not afraid of you.” He stretched out for sleep, and Daud wormed his arm under his head to pull him closer. He’d never liked sleeping next to anyone. Not before Corvo.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s weird,” Corvo whispered, voice subdued with sleep. “I’ve never been afraid of you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A week later, Daud took a handful of the less experienced Whalers out on a scouting mission. Corvo had his gear half-packed when Daud stopped him. The new recruits needed Daud’s full attention, and he’d hardly get it if Corvo was there distracting him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo also got the impression that Daud wanted him to settle in among the Whalers without having Daud at his side. Corvo’s role in the gang was...odd. He wore a Whaler uniform, but he didn’t sleep among them, and he participated in their exercises only when he wished. The other Whalers were still figuring out what to make of it, especially the novices. Being able to interact with Corvo without Daud’s long shadow might help.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo didn’t give a rat’s left asscheck what the Whalers thought of him, but if it mattered to Daud, he was prepared to at least make a token effort. At least it might make them stare less the times he took his breakfast in the mess hall.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>ONE WEEK LATER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo awoke gasping, sheets damp with sweat and his body flushed. He threw a hand over his face and tried to breathe. Arousal choked him like a vise, driving every coherent thought from his mind. The other side of the bed was empty; Daud was still away on the job.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shifted slightly and groaned again. The drag of the sheets against his skin was pure torture, making his nerves spark off. Corvo took himself in hand and swallowed thickly. This was going to be short.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe it was Daud? Corvo twisted his wrist, biting his lip as the motion made his cock throb. Since he started fucking Daud his libido had increased expontentially. Corvo had no idea if it was the change in circumstance, or part and parcel with Daud’s… physical oddities, and he’d probably never know. What he did know was the slick that now leaked from his ass when he was aroused, and the way that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>burned</span>
  </em>
  <span> when he caught sight of the assassin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He spilled over his own knuckles with a soft huff.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo breathed through it, hand twitching. His cock softened, but…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo frowned, looking down at his legs. He was still half-hard and more than half aroused. But he knew better to expect anything out of himself so soon after climax. He levered himself out of bed, and dizziness hit him like a sledgehammer. He nearly threw up on the floor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dehydration? It was the only thing he could think of.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo dragged himself to the tiny closet Daud called a bathroom and stuck his face under the faucet, lapping up water. Well, he’d sleep whatever bug he’d caught off. Arousal was a weird symptom, but being with Daud meant that Corvo had long stopped panicking when his body reacted unusually to things. It’d be fine.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was not fine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo tried to sleep the day through and ended up bringing himself off three more times, only catching naps in the brief valleys between orgasms. His dick was chafing and his arm was sore, which hadn’t happened since he was a fucking teenager. It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>ridiculous. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He pulled himself out of bed for dinner; he had to eat and drink something.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Whalers were technically reporting to Thomas, but they constantly hung around, leeching something from his presence. It meant that Corvo spent a lot of time with his cock tucked up oddly in his pants, trying to make sure that his raging erection was hidden by his long coat and belt. It would go away, eventually.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once, Anton Sokolov had demonstrated a particular kind of curve that caught a coin perfectly in its whorls. It was a large funnel that tipped downward. You could put a coin into the slot and watch it race around the outer perimeter, slowly picking up speed as the curve tightened and the dim ringing of the metal on wood sharpening to a high-pitched whine. Corvo was that coin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Arousal was shrill and sharp. The need had further defined itself as the hours wore on, demanding fullness. Corvo had brought himself off in the bath and when he’d taken out his fingers, another wave of nausea had hit him so intensely that he’d nearly vomited again. So he stuffed them back in and waddled gracelessly to Daud’s toy chest, feverishly throwing toys until he found a bulbous plug. Having it inside made him shudder with relief.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then the Whalers requested him for weapons practice (well, Rulfio did, nearly everyone else was still too scared to approach him.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d cum in his pants when he’d parried Rinaldo’s glancing blow, the blades </span>
  <em>
    <span>shinging</span>
  </em>
  <span> against each other; Corvo had shifted his weight and the plug shifted too and that was it. Rinaldo, ever the consummate professional, took advantage of his sudden distraction to sock him in the face, which had just made him cum even </span>
  <em>
    <span>harder. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Corvo blinked into awareness flat on his back, nose oozing blood, and Rinaldo looking uncomfortably at the wet spot on his pants.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sir—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut the fuck up,” Corvo snarled. He levered himself back on his feet, hissing when the plug bumped up against him. “Not a fucking word.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rinaldo’s mouth snapped shut, but Rulfio snorted from across the training circle. “Someone misses Master Daud.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rulfio was far less insufferable with a sleep dart in his neck, Corvo thought smugly, his wristbow humming as the Whaler hit the ground snoring.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The plug wasn’t enough, soon (he was the circling coin, the ringing in his ears and the blood singing called out for something else). He dug through Daud’s box again with shaky hands. Pulling out the plug was painful, not from the stretch but from the emptiness, making him tremble and curse. He grabbed shakily at a wooden carved dildo, glistening with a neutral oil with a bulbous tip. Corvo set it on the ground and slowly lowered himself onto it, groaning. He dropped his forehead to the lid of the box and panted. Void, it was closer, but it wasn’t enough.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo woke up a few hours later with stiff knees and cum striping the front of the box.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t remember getting onto the bed, didn’t remember locking the door (but he must’ve). Corvo dreamed fever dreams. Dreamed of Rinaldo on his knees, sucking him off. Dreamed of throwing himself into the ocean and being pulled apart by thick, ropey tentacles that ate him whole. But mostly, he dreamed of Daud. Daud, kissing the Outsider open-mouthed. Daud, between his legs, stuffing him fuller than was possible. Daud, all muscle and fat, dragging him down into the ocean, biting at his skin until he bled.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo twisted in the sheets, dragging Daud’s jacket up to his nose deliriously. He hurt all over but his body demanded more, pushing him far past discomfort into actual </span>
  <em>
    <span>pain. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The wooden dildo was warm and glossy with the heat of Corvo’s hole and the slick he was leaking, and it made it shift and slip. It wasn’t enough, though, and Corvo had spent twenty minutes trying to wedge his own fingers inside while frantically stroking himself with his other hand. It hadn’t worked, and Corvo had cried in frustration.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The slick from his ass and the cum had turned the sheets into a disgusting, damp mess. Corvo rolled onto his side and pulled his legs up to his chest, throat raw with exertion. He thumbed his cock without thinking. Every moment was split between pain and pleasure, and the combination wiped every thought from his brain except for </span>
  <em>
    <span>more</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He turned his face into the pillow and bit down, trying to imagine it was Daud’s skin. His cock was practically screaming with exhaustion but he was hard as a fucking rock. Corvo had been on the edge for hours now, nerves trembling, mind darting. He was going to jump out of his own skin soon. Or maybe jump out the window. Or maybe just scream for the Whalers and see how many cocks and toys could fit inside of him before he ruptured in bloody pieces all over the floor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud transversed into the main space of the base and cracked his neck as he dumped his duffel to the ground. The gig had gone well, all things considered. The three novices had demonstrated varying levels of promise, and there had been no major injuries. Getting back had taken a full day longer than expected, but Daud’s mental folder was full of blackmail-worthy material. Thomas would be ecstatic. His second-in-command was a pedantic man, who delighted in casing their targets.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The aforementioned Whaler blinked into existence so suddenly Daud actually took a step back. Thomas’ eyes were sort of comically wide, and Daud saw his neck was red.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Daud, fuck,” he blurted out. His eyes darted towards the base proper.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud raised an eyebrow. Thomas wrung his hands. “Sir, it’s…” He actually pushed his mask off and groaned. “It’s Attano. Something’s wrong.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wrong?” Daud echoed. Thomas wasn’t looking alarmed, mostly just embarrassed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Void, please don’t make me say it out loud,” Thomas muttered to his boots. Daud rolled his eyes. He clenched his hand and the room vanished.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud barely saw the utter chaos of his bedroom. Someone slammed into him with the force of a barely controlled transversal and both of them went down in a heap.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fucking—asshole!” Corvo snarled into his mouth. His hands tugged at Daud's clothes, but they were shaking so badly he didn’t manage much. He was completely naked. His body was running hot and he was sweaty, and the smell of him made Daud’s belly tight. Void, he’d been planning on fucking Corvo tonight, but this was something else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What did you do to me?” Corvo’s voice was growing frantic. Daud seized his hands in a hard grip, and only then he felt how hard Corvo was. His hips were rutting against Daud’s, twitching and desperate. Usually just looking at Corvo was enough to make Daud want him; now Corvo looked like he was seconds away from crying if Daud didn’t put his hands on him immediately.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Coop, please,” Corvo gasped. “Fuck me, fuck me, please, please—” His voice broke in a sob, but more than that it was the name that made Daud move. Corvo hadn’t called him Coop in weeks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud seized Corvo by the waist and transversed. He dumped the man into the heap that looked like it had once been his bed. His hands came away slick, and the scent about Corvo made him growl. His bandolier and jacket came off, shirt, trousers, boots—</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The tentacles uncoiled and surged to hold Corvo who had tried to crawl towards him. The man made a frustrated cry as he thrashed against their hold. His cock looked like it had been through a wringer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fuck, firebrand,” Daud growled as he finally kicked the clothes away and stepped closer. “You look like the entire gang has had their way with you already.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t expect Corvo to bare his teeth and yank his hands so hard the tendrils slipped. Daud didn’t manage to catch him, and Corvo scratched furious red lines down his thighs. Daud’s cock twitched, even as he gripped Corvo’s face to make their eyes meet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey.” Daud shifted, kneeling on the bed and forcing Corvo to look at him. The younger man was shaking, trying to press against Daud with all his strength. “Look at me, firebrand. Corvo.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The name made Corvo blink his eyes. His gaze focused.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Daud,” he whimpered. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” Daud murmured. “Hold on just a second longer. What’s happening?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo tugged against the grip Daud had on his hair. He licked his lips, and Daud swallowed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I woke up like this,” he rasped. “Leaking that—stuff. And I need— I need—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo’s head rolled back, and Daud gave up trying to act responsible. He surged forward and bit the skin on Corvo’s throat. The second his tongue tasted Corvo’s skin heat coiled inside him; red and black, blistering and insistent. Daud made another inhuman growl as he felt himself swell. Corvo cried out, wrapping his arms around Daud’s neck as he forced them into a bruising kiss.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud had never much cared about kissing. It felt like something you did with people you cared about. With Corvo, it had been another way to abuse him, until it had become something else too. They only ever kissed when they fucked, always with teeth and tongue, so violently that they drew blood.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud licked into Corvo’s mouth, tasting the strange heat there, and Corvo moaned into it. He wasn’t moving with any kind of coherence any longer, hands touching and holding whatever he could reach. He was making soft, keening noises that Daud had never heard from him before. He found he loved them; his cock gave another violent jerk, and Daud could tell the knot was swelling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, firebrand, alright,” Daud grunted. He pushed Corvo away and flipped him around. The sheets were sticky and disgusting, but they smelled strongly of Corvo, of sex, and Daud pressed Corvo’s face against them as he pushed him down with his bulk. Corvo’s ass jerked up, and something hard dragged against Daud’s thigh. He felt around, and then he tugged the wooden dildo free. Corvo made a feral snarl when it came free with a wet sound. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ve been fucking yourself with this, firebrand?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” Corvo moaned. His hips were jerking again, helplessly seeking friction. “But it wasn’t—enough.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud pressed teeth against the nape of Corvo’s neck. The man smelled amazing, he smelled like he belonged to Daud, like something for Daud to mount and claim. The tendrils coiled and tensed, wrapping around them both.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Daud—please— </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck me</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud felt how hot and wet Corvo was. His cock was aching with how much he wanted to bury it inside Corvo’s ass. Daud had to take a deep breath to function through the haze. He gripped his cock to guide it in, and felt how thick the knot was against his fingers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The second it breached the rim of Corvo’s ass he had to stop and take another deep breath. His senses were going into a total overload; Corvo was writhing under him, moaning and gasping, and Daud gripped him around his chest as he rocked deeper.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Void, yes, fuck,” Corvo moaned. “Please, Daud—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud slid the rest of the way in, and bit Corvo’s shoulder.  He had to move, his heart was going to give out. Corvo pushed his ass against him, whining, and Daud laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Firebrand—” his voice gave out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The knot popped out, and Corvo sobbed as Daud thrust it back in. Daud couldn’t see his face but Corvo’s breaths were becoming wet and raspy. He threw himself into it, leaving it to Daud to catch him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The stretch burned, and Daud’s touch burned, and Corvo himself felt like kindling. His overtaxed limbs screamed at him but Corvo couldn’t stop, frantically pushing into Daud’s cock, limbs shaking with effort. Daud’s hand landed heavy between his shoulder blades and pushed him down, hard. Corvo was saying something, babbling, but was completely incoherent as to what those sounds actually were.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For once, Daud used his hands over the Void-tendrils (not able to hold him in this state, apparently). He shoved Corvo down onto the bed and fucked himself relentlessly into Corvo. The knot swelled incrementally and each thrust was a little harder, and each draw back sent a sharper pain popping up Corvo’s spine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fuck,” Daud breathed, eyes fixed on where he disappeared into Corvo’s ass. “Fucking Void.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo’s face was wet. He licked his lips and tasted salt. “Please,” he begged, cheek sliding over the damp, hot bedclothes. He didn’t know if he’d ever begged like this to anyone; certainly not </span>
  <em>
    <span>Daud,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but the desperation suffusing every inch of his body had wiped away any pride he had. “Please, please, please—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud growled something incoherent and grabbed both of Corvo’s hips in his hands. Corvo’s voice cracked as Daud forced the knot inside, hands scrabbling on the bed. Then it was in, it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>there,</span>
  </em>
  <span> hot and heavy, and Corvo moaned brokenly. “Come on,” he rasped, barely getting the words out. “Coop, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Coop—”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cooper knocked Corvo’s knees out from under him, pinning them both facedown on the bed. Corvo gripped the sheets and gasped for breath. The position weighed Corvo down, only allowing him to draw half-breaths of hot, sex-scented air. Coop wrapped his strong arms around Corvo and moved his hips in small circles, grunting. Corvo turned his face into the pillow and clenched, as hard as he could—</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cooper came, growling, and bit down at the join of Corvo’s neck and shoulder. The sound Corvo made would have embarrassed him any other time, but now it was bubbling up from somewhere deep inside. He could feel Coop’s cock twitching, the warmth coating his insides, the knot pounding out Coop’s pulse inside of Corvo’s ass.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shuddered in Coop’s arms, </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span> feeling his body relax. Coop kept on cumming, grunting, pressing his groin into Corvo’s ass harder, knocking their knees together and gripping Corvo’s chest in a death grip.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo floated half-conscious on the feeling, drifting in Coop’s embrace. Eventually the throbbing subsided, but the delicious feeling of fullness stayed. Every twitch of their bodies sent sparks of pleasure through Corvo’s exhausted body. He sighed, laying his cheek against the pillow and wincing as the salt pulled at his skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Firebrand.” Daud’s voice was rough and husky. “The fuck is this about?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo blinked languidly. The desperation was scoured clean, and Corvo felt like he’d just run back-to-back marathons. Even moving his mouth to speak was a monumental effort. “I told you. I woke up like this, all— all slick.” Void, he was going to fall asleep like this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mmmm.” Daud rumbled, and he could feel it across his skin, and mewled. They laid for several minutes, silent except for their breathing and the occasional breathy moan. “Dunno how long it’s gonna stay in.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A spike of panic shot through Corvo. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t go.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>It wasn’t— he wasn’t— he wasn’t supposed to want this, but the fucking heat, whatever Daud did to him— it was too fucking much, and his balls were starting to ache.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud blinked, then bit softly at Corvo’s skin. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo hissed. “This is your fault, you fucking jackass.” The syllable bled into a moan as Daud shifted his hips and Corvo gripped him tighter. “Piece of shit—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut up.” Daud stuffed his fingers into Corvo’s mouth and rolled them both onto their sides. “Shut your fucking mouth and go to sleep, firebrand. You look fucking terrible. We’re not going anywhere. You hear me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud had him pressed up against his front, knees nestled together, cock buried inside. The exhaustion sapped every bit of strength from his limbs, rendering him Daud’s puppet to pose as he pleased. Corvo’s eyes were shut, and he struggled to open them again. “‘M not staying here for you to do whatever— the fuck you’re gonna do,” he mumbled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I kinda think you are.” Daud tightened his grip and Corvo mewled. Strong hands gripped his hair, running through the oily strands. “Sleep.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo slept.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud dreamed of the Void. It shifted around him, with echoes of whalesong and unfamiliar laughter. Daud allowed it to stream through him; he wasn’t really here, or if he was, he was just a waystation. Something was passing through him, and it left a sensation like falling when it was gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He became aware of Corvo before his mind truly woke up. Daud felt the slim body pressed against his chest. His arms were holding Corvo in a tight embrace, and by now the skin touching skin was slick with sweat. Daud was always running hot, but now there were flames under his skin, threatening to burn through him and leave nothing but ash. Daud buried his nose into Corvo’s hair and breathed in, deep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo smelled of sweat and sex. It was intoxicating. Daud could smell the odd, new scent underneath it, reminding him of the slick Corvo leaked. It was a sweet tang, completely alien and it had set his mind on fire. Judging by the state Corvo had been in, Daud hadn’t been the only one compromised. He opened his eyes for a moment, trying to ground himself. The room was swaying gently, like they were on a boat somewhere. Daud closed his eyes again and settled into the rhythm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud licked Corvo’s neck and the man whined, still dead to the world. He was slack with exhaustion, and Daud’s cock was still swollen stuck inside his ass. Daud chased the taste, because something in it was making his heart beat faster. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nnh.” Corvo shifted, and the small movement jostled them both. Daud grunted, and then couldn’t stop rolling his hips against the sense of being stuck. He held Corvo tighter and moved, the knot snug and tight, liquid flames traveling down his spine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Daud,” Corvo muttered. His voice was cracking and peeling with sleep. Daud didn’t bother answering. He just thrust again, and Corvo sucked in a breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re stuck.” The words went muffled when Daud bit Corvo’s neck. When he tasted blood he finally let go. His head was swimming, he was losing the thoughts as soon as they appeared; all that mattered was Corvo, and how mind-numbingly good he was smelling and feeling. The swaying sensation grew stronger, and now Daud could smell the sea. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud twisted his hips, and Corvo cried out as the knot shifted. His voice was equal parts pain and pleasure.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fuck! Daud—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud bit down again and shoved, and again the knot moved just enough to tell him it was doable.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Didn’t think you’d be this greedy, firebrand,” Daud breathed into Corvo’s ear. The tendrils peeled away from his body and wrapped around Corvo as he tried to squirm away. “You’re my little slut, body going crazy with need when I’m not here to fuck you raw every night.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fuck you—” Corvo gasped. The words were slurred, because Daud was moving again, and the knot was moving, too; it was slow and agonizing and perfect. Corvo tried to fight, but the tentacles wrapped and coiled around him, sealing his body against Daud’s.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re like a bitch in heat,” Daud went on. The words were flowing from a dark place, and the more the knot moved, the less human he felt. He was something dark and menacing, something dangerous; a thing that craved to lay claim to Corvo. A distant memory of the discussion they’d had a week ago drifted back; Corvo telling Daud that the Void was claiming him as its own. Daud shied away from it, pushing it aside even as the scent of salt grew stronger around them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud turned and forced Corvo back on his stomach. Corvo’s hands were trapped against the still-damp sheets, and Daud saw his face when he twisted his head sideways. His whole face was red with exertion, and when he looked at Daud he bared his teeth. The sight made Daud grin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My little slut,” he repeated, rolling his hips more freely now. It felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong </span>
  </em>
  <span>to force his knot to move, but it was that or die; he had to fuck Corvo, cum until his belly bulged and then some, ruin and wreck this man until whatever was left was wholly his.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo sobbed as Daud started to fuck him. Tears leaked over and he bit his lip, but at some point his hips started to meet Daud’s thrusts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s too much,” Corvo moaned. He didn’t seem aware of the way his body was accepting this. “I can’t—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I need you to shut up,” Daud grunted. A thick tendril slid between Corvo’s lips, and he gagged. More tears ran from his eyes. Daud picked up the pace. His cock was so heavy and he had to cum, he had to fill Corvo to the brim.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You need this, firebrand. You want it,” Daud breathed into Corvo’s ear. “I’m gonna stuff you so full I could just fist you later, and pump you so full of my cum you’ll be leaking it well into the next week.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo gagged again, and Daud thrust the tentacle deeper, his hips snapping in a punishing rhythm. He was getting closer, too close, everything was a haze of muffled cries and writhing tendrils, his magic curling around him and making him into something new and unknown. The room lurched and the light shifted like they were underwater, spears of sunlight striking the room around them. Daud moved enough to wrap his hand around Corvo’s cock.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come for me,” he growled. “You want this, you’re mine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo’s eyes rolled back as he spasmed, his ass tightening around Daud. Daud’s cock gave a violent, foreign jerk as the knot swelled again. Daud slammed it as deep as he could and then he was stuck, and he was cumming, much too hard, ears ringing and vision going black. His hips jerked, instinct telling him to keep moving, and Corvo shouted, pain slipping into throaty moans as Daud’s fingers went slick with his seed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The rest was a haze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud gradually became aware of Corvo pulling at his hair. When he grunted, the man tugged harder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fucking asshole, move, can you hear me? Daud, move, fuck you—” Corvo muttered a steady stream of profanities as Daud tried to remember how many limbs he had and exactly how they were supposed to work. The boundaries of his body felt...odd, liquid and loose somehow he wasn’t able to put into words.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Daud, if you don’t move, I’m going to—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut the fuck up, firebrand,” Daud muttered. At least the room was no longer rocking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo bristled, but it was largely inefficient, given how well and truly he was trapped under Daud.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will choke to death here, and you can explain this fucking mess to your men, Thomas will be real happy to bury me once they can hack your cock free—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud grunted and turned on his side, slotting himself behind Corvo. He kept his grip around Corvo’s middle to avoid any unnecessary jostling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There, happy?” Daud emphasized his words by nudging his hips. Corvo hissed and cursed under his breath. Then he went still and fell slack again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is so fucked up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re</span>
  </em>
  <span> fucked up,” Daud yawned. “Literally.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo muttered something unflattering under his breath, but pushed himself further into Daud’s hold. The primal flutter in his chest subsided when he was skin to skin with the assassin; when Daud held him down and just took and took and </span>
  <em>
    <span>took</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Void. He’d once thought that </span>
  <em>
    <span>The Young Prince of Tyvia</span>
  </em>
  <span> was bawdy, and now Corvo was living out scenes from the fringe eroticas you had to ask shopkeepers for after-hours.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo let his eyes slip shut. Daud was sticky warm against his back, and his breath stirred his unkempt curls. One arm was tucked loosely around Corvo’s waist and the other cushioned Daud’s head. Corvo craned his head back and rubbed at his stinging eyes. Daud had his eyes closed, still dozing, but his breathing wasn’t even enough for sleep. Corvo’s eyes trailed down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They were tangled together, Corvo’s groin nestled in the curve of Daud’s own. Their legs were interlocked. Corvo’s darker skin stood out against Daud’s fairer. Corvo squinted, laying his thigh alongside Daud’s. Daud really </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> changing, something in the Void transforming him from the inside out. His dark hair had gotten thicker, and his body was more plush. Cords of muscle lurked underneath the soft layer of fat cushioning Corvo’s own bony hips. Corvo craned his neck up and trailed his hand across Daud’s chin. The man had always been clean-shaven, that hadn’t changed, but the dark stubble was growing just a little faster than before. His hair was thick, black, glossy, with just a touch of discoloration around the temples.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo snuck a finger under Daud’s lip and pulled back. The canines were just a </span>
  <em>
    <span>touch </span>
  </em>
  <span>sharper, larger; he’d drawn blood earlier with his bite and Corvo’s cock twitched to see smudges still left behind on Daud’s teeth and lips.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Firebrand,” Daud growled, eyes still closed. Corvo took his finger out of his mouth and wiped it on Daud’s chest for good measure.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud wasn’t turning </span>
  <em>
    <span>into</span>
  </em>
  <span> anything. The lycanthropes and shapeshifters of his mother’s fairytales bore no resemblance to Daud. It seemed more like the Void was changing him with regard to another set of parameters. Maybe it was tied to Daud’s perception of himself? Or maybe the Void just made monsters.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo tucked himself back into the soft heat of Daud’s body, and he let himself drift into a contented doze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Waking up was slower. Daud became aware of Corvo again, but this time he didn’t feel like moving. He sighed, mind slow and sticky with sleep. The slightest shift sent ripples of pleasure through him. The room itself felt distant, slightly unreal; the only thing Daud was certain existed with him was Corvo; slack and asleep again, still holding Daud inside himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud pushed his nose right against Corvo’s neck and inhaled, deep. He had been smelling more, lately, and now Corvo smelled like </span>
  <em>
    <span>his. </span>
  </em>
  <span>There were no words for it, Daud simply knew that if anyone else were able to understand it, they would know Corvo had been claimed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud opened his eyes when the thought trickled fully into his mind. His mouth was full of black hair and he was thirsty. When had he started to think of Corvo as something he could—not own, but claim? Daud frowned as he tried to claw his way back into full alertness. He didn’t believe anyone could own Corvo. Hell, he’d said the exact words to him when Corvo had asked for sanctuary. And here he was, doing it anyway.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The uneasy feeling at the pit of his stomach came and went. Daud wanted to hang onto it, because if he lost this, what else would slip through his fingers? Corvo chose that moment to yawn and stretch, and the movement made both of them moan. Daud’s arms around Corvo grew tighter, and when he pressed against his belly Corvo cried out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud gave up trying to hold on to his sanity. Either he would surface again and fix the shit he broke, or he’d become the monster Corvo kept joking about. Daud knew there was a knife tucked away inside Corvo’s pillow. It had appeared the night they started sharing the bed, and Daud took comfort in it. He closed his eyes, rolled his hips, and trusted that Corvo would slit his throat if the Void washed away all of his humanity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo squirmed, trying to make space for himself in the overheated bed. Behind him, Daud growled again, pulling him close. “Knock it off,” he mumbled, Void-tendrils responding to his gruff orders.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Inky blackness pulled at Corvo, binding him flush to Daud. Corvo grimaced, kicking loosely at a few of them, but they just wound around his ankles to pull him back. His face burned. A bitch in heat indeed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud’s fingers trailed along Corvo’s exposed belly. He grabbed Corvo’s hand and ran it along his stomach. “Not enough,” he rumbled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo reddened. “Too much,” he corrected.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud grinned, scratching at his stomach. “Don’t think you really think that, firebrand. Think you’re dreaming about being so stuffed with my cum that when I turn you on your belly to fuck you, you cry like a bitch.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo felt a thrill run down his spine. This was— new, and different. Could he stop Daud if he wanted to? (Did he even want to?) “I’m not—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am.” Daud inhaled, drinking in Corvo’s scent. “The things you </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> to me, firebrand. I’m never letting you out of this room. Gonna keep you here, so I can fuck you anytime I want. Could hold meetings here. Let them all see you in my lap, stuck on my cock.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo moaned, the image springing to his mind. Daud started biting a line down Corvo’s neck. “You’re mine,” he said. Usually that line was a challenge. But this time Daud was speaking it like it was a bedrock truth. Corvo shuddered. Daud’s tongue traced the shell of Corvo’s ear. “My knife. The one I send against our enemies in the dark. But here, you’re just my own personal slut. Begging with your legs open.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stop it,” Corvo mumbled faintly, and his cock twitched with interest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud leaned over, pressing Corvo onto the mattress. He could feel the faint flicker of magic through the bond, something whiz through the air, and then— something cold and metal, pressed to his skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo stilled, heart thrumming in his chest. He could feel the heavy </span>
  <em>
    <span>thump </span>
  </em>
  <span>of Daud’s own heartbeat against his back. The knife caught some of the scant light in the room, glinting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud rolled onto his back, dragging Corvo with. He cried out as Daud’s cock jostled, pressing, rubbing up against all the sensitive parts of him. Daud chuckled and looped one arm around his chest. “Mine,” Daud repeated. His foot hooked Corvo’s ankle and pulled his legs apart obscenely. Corvo craned his neck to see, see the thick length of Daud’s cock trapped in his ass, the way his own chest heaved against Daud’s.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud laid the knife against Corvo’s thigh. It was a line of cold on his overheated skin. He tipped his wrist ever so slightly and Corvo jerked, mewling, and a bright, hair-thin line of blood bloomed along the edge of the blade. “You’re so fucking desperate for this, for my cock. Couldn’t even take off my clothes before you were sobbing for me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo licked his lips nervously, desire thrumming through him. The primal part of Corvo wanted to uncoil himself on Daud, lay back and let the man take exactly what he wanted. His eyes were fixed on the thin ribbon of blood on the blade. Daud lifted it to Corvo’s mouth. “Go on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud grabbed his mouth roughly and opened it. “There.” He smeared the blood over Corvo’s tongue, making him gag. “That’s right. That’s what you want, to choke on something.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He smoothed Corvo’s sweaty hair from his forehead, then threaded his fingers in and pulled, hard. “I’m not even close to finished with you. I can tell you’re going to drive me fucking crazy by the end of this. You can barely fight now, I can’t wait to see what you’ll do when I’m sick of talking and fuck your ass raw, get you leaking me from both ends.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo was shaking with lust, with fear, with relief; he didn’t even know. Desire and contentment radiated with every fucked-up word that tumbled out of Daud’s mouth. It would be fine, because it was Daud. It would be fine if Daud hurt him. It would be fine if Daud killed him, really. As long as it was his hands that did the deed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The assassin’s hands strayed back to his stomach. They prodded, hard, and Corvo jolted. “Still room. Let’s see—” Daud’s fingers pushed down, and Corvo cried out, cock spurting out a dribble of precum. “There we go. Right there.” He shoved his fingers in hard, bumping up against Corvo’s insides. “Can practically see my cock filling you up. Can’t believe you can fit it all in.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud hummed, fingers still digging into Corvo mercilessly. “Or, maybe I would believe it. I’ve seen what a little whore you are, how you like to be stuffed. You’d get down on your hands and your knees for anyone. You’d love it if I told my Whalers exactly what I wanted them to do with you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was an effort to sit up, but Daud manoeuvred them into a sitting position. Corvo’s legs were stretched open obscenely, and he was shivering as his back pressed against Daud’s chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So many of my Whalers want you,” Daud rumbled into Corvo’s ear. “They fear you, but they also wish to bend you over and fuck you, or push you on your knees, or ruin you in other ways.” Corvo shuddered, and when Daud ran his fingers down his cock he mewled. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And you could have any of them,” Daud added, almost as an afterthought. “I’m sure you’ve noticed how we do things around here.” Corvo nodded. His head fell back, and Daud nosed his jawline.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The pins,” Corvo got out. “The different colors.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aye,” Daud chuckled. The scent of Corvo’s skin was intoxicating. “And I happen to know who wants to fuck your mouth.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo jolted, and the movement sent a frisson of pleasure through them both. At this point Daud wasn’t completely sure what he’d do, but it did involve ruining Corvo as thoroughly as possible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who?” Corvo mumbled. He was slurring his words.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thomas,” Daud purred. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo craned his head around enough to meet Daud’s gaze with a frown. “Thomas? I thought he barely tolerates me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud laughed. He licked the shell of Corvo’s ear. “The way he looks at you, firebrand. He wants to fuck your face, stuff your mouth full of his cock and choke you on it.” Corvo moaned and tried to roll his hips, and Daud growled. “You want that? You want me to call him here, to let him see you like this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” Corvo mumbled. His hips were moving in small twitches, and Daud had no doubt he would have been stroking himself again had his hands been free. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think you do.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo did, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Void</span>
  </em>
  <span> he did. He wanted to be pressed up against on all sides, used and discarded; he wanted Daud to pull him back into his bed when it was all over like a wayward pet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d only just escaped Jessamine and here he was, throwing himself at the feet of someone else. What in the fuck was wrong with him?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo tipped his head back, looking into Daud’s Void-back eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well. Not like he cared to fix it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo licked his lips. “Don’t,” he said, purely so he could feel the pleasure of Daud overriding him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The assassin studied Corvo carefully. Daud lifted his hand, and his Mark flared.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas snapped into the empty space just a few feet away from Daud. He recoiled a step when he took in the view, right as Corvo realized what was happening and started to struggle against Daud’s grip.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Daud—” Thomas’ voice was muffled by the respirator, but the surprise was evident. Daud met his eyes through the mask lenses. After a long silence Thomas peeled the mask off. He was blushing but his eyes were clear and sharp. He had clearly been about to turn in, because the bandolier and jacket were missing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo slumped down against Daud again, hands clenched into fists. The die cast. “I’m gonna kill you,” he told Daud in a strangled voice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thomas,” Daud said in a silky voice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you want?” Thomas wasn’t looking at Corvo, he was looking at Daud, just like he always did when Daud summoned him or when he asked Daud to take care of him. His eyes were keen, but now he was uncertain. Thomas was suspicious of Corvo, and Daud had seen the way his eyes narrowed when he looked at the odd one out. Corvo bristled whenever he was in the same room with Thomas, and Daud had enjoyed the tension crackling between them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud beckoned, and when Thomas was close enough Daud gripped his belt. He yanked and made Thomas stumble, his hands landing on Corvo’s shoulders to keep his balance. Daud heard the sharp intake of breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ve been thinking about him,” Daud told Thomas. The blush deepened, and Corvo tried to turn his head so it wouldn’t press against Thomas’ crotch. Daud used his free hand to turn Corvo’s face up to face Thomas.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe,” Thomas breathed. His eyes were now glued to Corvo’s scowl and the way he kept trying to pull away from Daud’s grip. “He’s a curious one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud laughed. He let go of Thomas and smoothed a hand down his thigh. Thomas didn’t move away, and after a moment’s hesitation, his hands alighted on Corvo’s jaw. Corvo made a strangled sound, his whole face dusky pink with embarrassment. Daud rolled his hips, his knot dragging against Corvo, and the man couldn’t prevent the moan from escaping.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s stuck here,” Daud told Thomas. He saw his second narrow his pale eyes. “Do what you wish. You want to ruin him, I can tell.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud wrapped his arm around Corvo’s middle right when Thomas peeled off his gloves. The ghostly light flickered over his mark as he discarded them and then cupped Corvo’s cheeks. Corvo made another wordless growl of protest, but then his breath stuttered as Thomas pried his lips apart and slotted two fingers between them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So pretty,” Thomas murmured. There was a faint smile on his face. “And such a dangerous thing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud started to move his hips just enough to drive Corvo crazy, and the man shuddered helplessly as he finally accepted Thomas’ fingers into his mouth and started to suck. Daud didn’t even think about stroking Corvo, because watching him fall apart like this was simply too good.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud’s fingers were thick and calloused. Thomas’ were tapered, soft— Rulfio’s gossiping about Thomas being an aristocrat weren’t bullshit after all. The sharp tang of cologne wafted from his wrists. Something piney, or floral; Corvo couldn’t concentrate enough to find out. He was mesmerized by the slow push and pull of Thomas’ fingers. Daud usually shoved in hard enough to make him gag. Thomas drew his fingers in and out slowly, dragging the tips against his tongue. The slowness was a different kind of obscenity. Corvo moaned and behind him, Daud’s pulse quickened.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas laced the fingers of his other hand into the hair at the nape of Corvo’s neck and pulled until Corvo’s forehead was resting against his breeches, nose tucked into where his thigh and groin joined. Thomas’ cock was hot, straining against his trousers. “You’re shameless,” Thomas whispered. “What you do with Master Daud. The impunity of it.” He tightened his grip on Corvo’s hair. “Do you even say thank you, after?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo grimaced. “Only one of us is a dog,” he said around Thomas’ fingers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The same one of us is a bitch,” Thomas said smoothly, and the tips of Corvo’s ear reddened. Thomas thrust his fingers in harder and licked his lips. “Where did you find him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fugue Feast.” Daud’s voice cut in. Corvo blinked and turned red; Thomas hadn’t been addressing him. They were talking over him, now. Irritation sparked. “He was practically begging for it. Picked him up at the Pinion &amp; Rye. I could have whipped out my cock right there on the bar— hey, watch it.” Daud grabbed Corvo’s hair, hard, and yanked him back from where he’d started sucking at Thomas’ cock over his breeches. “Sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas traced those long, pale fingers over Corvo’s sweaty cheek, and Corvo couldn’t help but shiver. “He’s not that bad.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo bared his teeth, and Thomas smiled down at him serently. He stroked Corvo’s cheekbone once more before dropping his hands to his pants. He tugged open the tie and pulled his cock free. It was rosy and pink, nestled in curly ginger hair. A smattering of freckles speckled Thomas’s hips. He gave himself a few strokes, breathing deeply, then cupped Corvo’s chin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud growled behind him and blunt fingers were suddenly pinching his cheeks. “Mouth open, firebrand,” he ordered. Corvo twisted in Daud’s grip and parted his lips grudgingly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas’s fingers slid in alongside Daud’s. “A little wider— yes, there. Good,” he hummed. Corvo’s eyes slipped shut and he could feel himself going hazy. It wasn’t— he wasn’t— he wasn’t supposed to want this, but the fucking heat, whatever Daud did to him— it was too fucking much, and his balls were starting to ache.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas held his cock in one hand and cupped the other around Corvo’s head. “You look a picture,” he breathed. Daud’s finger pulled at Corvo’s bottom lip, sliding spit down his chin. Corvo squeezed his eyes shut.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The head of Thomas’ cock nudged into his mouth and Corvo moaned around it. The man himself shivered, and Corvo could feel Daud’s cock twitch inside of him. The hand at the back of his head pushed insistently, shoving Corvo’s mouth deeper onto Thomas’s warm cock. Thomas’s eyes were wide, attention rapt. Corvo licked at the head, pushing his tongue against the slit to catch the moisture beading there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The tightening of Thomas’s hand at Corvo’s neck was the only warning he got before Thomas shoved himself in roughly. His groin smashed against Corvo’s nose and Corvo gagged, shoulders trembling. His throat strained with the effort. Thomas drew back and thrust in savagely to the hilt, letting his head drop back as he groaned. “Fuck, that’s tight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo shuddered. Thomas snapped his hips and Corvo slumped back against Daud’s chest, shaking, pinned to the assassin by the force of Thomas’s thrust. Daud growled again and bit at his ear, hard enough to draw blood, and Corvo yelped. “A fucking picture,” he whispered into Corvo’s ear, voice dark with lust. “I’m going to cum inside you just from watching this. Thomas is gonna be able to see your fucking stomach swell.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas slowed down, but every time he slid home, he went to the hilt, enough to make Corvo gag. Corvo was making soft, high-pitched sounds around Thomas’ cock, eyes shut and sweat beading on his forehead. Daud drank it all in as he felt his cock twitch harder. Everything was changing, and now it seemed a real possibility that he might come just from watching this. Whatever the heat that had overtaken Corvo was, it had definitely triggered something in Daud as well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas paused again, his cock in Corvo’s mouth. He traced his long fingers around it with a dark smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Such fire,” he murmured to Corvo. “Even as you’re here, trapped and helpless, you keep fighting.” Daud heard the appreciative note in his second’s voice and grinned into the tangle of hair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas had been born an aristocrat. His family had been important, once upon a time, but now there was just Thomas left. He was refined where Daud was rude, and there was a whisper of sinister promises in the way he moved. Whenever Daud needed information, it was Thomas he sent; whenever Thomas needed to be brought low, he sought out Daud.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Corvo opened his eyes they were once again hazy and unfocused. Thomas pulled out and let his cock smear over his lips, his pale eyes rapt on the way Corvo tried to catch it in his mouth again. There was a helpless shudder traveling up and down Corvo’s spine, and Daud grunted as he started to roll his hips again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How in the Void are you able to fit him in?” Thomas whispered to Corvo as he kept chasing his erection. “Maybe you’re just as corrupt, or maybe he has remade you to please him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo mewled and Thomas shoved his cock back in, all traces of gentleness gone; Corvo gagged as Thomas held himself still, and Daud reached to grab his thighs hard enough to bruise. Thomas gasped softly as Daud pulled him closer, until he could bite at the pale hip. Corvo was sputtering as Thomas’ cock stretched his throat and blocked his airways, and Daud moaned against the bruise spreading over the freckles. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s going to choke,” Thomas grunted. He didn’t sound even remotely worried, and when Daud looked he saw his pale fingers were feeling the bulge on Corvo’s throat as it worked furiously. Daud laughed as his knot gave a violent, warning twitch, and he released Thomas right at the same time as he started to tip over.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas pulled back, Corvo gasped for air with a wet, ragged sound, and Daud screwed his eyes shut as his cock pulsed and pulsed like a singular point of pleasure. His head was buried under rushing sounds as he felt his seed rush out, fingers digging into Corvo’s thighs now and hips moving more urgently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas bit his lip and moved back. He started to fuck Corvo’s mouth relentlessly, hips snapping and fingers digging into Corvo’s jaw hard enough to bruise. Corvo writhed against it, eyes unseeing and legs straining against the tendrils, and suddenly Thomas made a low, drawn-out moan as he broke. He came with a gasp and a stutter, and when Corvo choked his cum leaked out between his lips. It ran down his chin in sticky rivulets.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud was still shuddering behind him. He didn’t know how long he was going to keep coming this time, but when he finally dared to touch, Corvo’s belly </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> swelling under his fingers. He prodded, and Corvo cried out. His hair was hanging in sweaty knots as Thomas’ cock slipped out of his mouth, and Daud only had to poke once more before he came with a sob, untouched. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo fell limp as a ragdoll afterwards, and Daud gathered him closer. He was only distantly aware of Thomas crouching down to peer at Corvo’s face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I might give you to Thomas later,” Daud murmured. His heart was still hammering. “You will love the way he can handle a knife.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thomas gave a dark chuckle as Corvo shuddered. He cupped Corvo’s jaw, and once the man returned his gaze he kissed him. Corvo moaned into it, and Daud watched as Thomas drank the sound in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Corvo awoke next, dim moonlight was filtering in through the broken windows. Thomas was nowhere to be seen. Corvo could hear the soft susurrations of water, the quiet shuffling of the Whalers on the floors below. And the sound of something wet, moving—</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo turned, realizing that he could do so when it happened. He wasn’t stuck on Daud’s cock anymore. His limbs were stiff. Corvo rubbed at his eyes. “Daud?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He got a thin moan in response. Corvo snapped on the light on the nightstand, and then stilled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud was on his back, his own tentacles writhing over his body. The way the dark, inky shapes cut across his skin was breathtaking. He was arched back almost painfully. Quiet, bitten-off moans occasionally slipped out from behind the tendril in his mouth. Was this how Daud pleasured himself? It was so much quieter than Corvo would have guessed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He imagined Daud ten years younger, stuffing a leather glove in his mouth while he stroked his cock, and Corvo bit his lip hard enough to taste the tang of blood.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Daud.” Corvo shifted his weight onto one elbow and looked at the man. “You…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A slick tendril flashed beyond Daud’s thigh. Corvo laid his head back down on the pillow and bit his lip. The sounds were unmistakable now… Daud groaning as the tendrils pushed into him wetly, and Corvo, trying to hold his breath and listen closer. Daud made a muffled sound that was half-pained. He looked wrecked, and Corvo could only imagine how he was feeling; like a raw nerve firing past the point of all reason.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He jerked, surprised, when Daud’s hand curled around Corvo’s own. Daud’s eyes opened into slits, staring up at Corvo with an expression he couldn’t find a name for. Heat and fire and Void power, laying here on the bed holding Corvo’s hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo’s eyes flicked to the tendrils and how they were moving. There was a dizzying, terrifying moment when he couldn’t tell whether Daud was controlling them anymore.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Corvo watched, entranced, as the assassin found his own completion. He came with a curse bit around the tendril, body shaking and hand squeezing Corvo’s hard enough to hurt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daud sighed, and now his breaths were coming reedy. It was too dark to see, but for a second Corvo thought his face might be wet. “Firebrand,” he said, voice gravel-rough. His hand splayed over Corvo’s stomach, appraising, distracting. “Best you’ve ever looked.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fuck off,” Corvo said weakly, sparks flying every time Daud’s fingers touched his skin. “Don’t you need to sleep?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why, are you concerned?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” Corvo said, and was surprised to realize that was a lie.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Listen, we said there will be plot, we'll get there when we get there. In the meantime, meet our dearest OC, Nessa.</p><p>For this chapter, we want add a warning about gender/pronoun fuckery; someone who mainly uses male pronouns being referred to with she/her pronouns/referring to himself with she/her pronouns.</p><p>Short version: possession but make it horny.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Absolutely fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>not.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Corvo shrugged off Daud’s arm from around his shoulders irritably. “I don’t know what your—your obsession with this is.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud chuckled. “You say ‘my’ obsession. Not like it’s a secret that you’re thinking about it too. Looking different. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Softer.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo snorted and threw a sharp elbow at Daud to let him know where he could stuff his ‘softness.’ The two of them were crouching on the roof of one of Slackjaw’s distilleries, watching through a set of broken, grimy windows. The man had been having a few troubles with a warring faction and had hired the Whalers to serve as a preventative measure. It was a fancy way of saying ‘sit in the shadows and look menacing,’ and Daud was very good at it. Daud had also casually told Corvo that it was an excellent opportunity to scope out Slackjaw’s network. If their current hideout was compromised, they could always…acquire this one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud crouched behind Corvo and trailed a hand down his flank. “Think about it— being in another body, a softer body. Having a pair of tits for me to suck. Another hole for me to fill,” he purred. His weight was warm and demanding against Corvo’s back, hulking, briny like the ocean. Corvo’s eyes slid halfway shut and he shivered. There was—something about when Daud was behind him; it was like you could catch something large and black just out of the corner of your eye. It was unnerving.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo reluctantly slid himself out of Daud’s space again, swallowing. “You’re being disgusting. And it’s not like there’s a queue of women eager for me to take residence between their eyes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud eyed him predatorily. “We’ll see.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It happened at Slackjaw’s bar, three days later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was a pretty redhead— she’d caught Corvo’s eye, actually, and when she’d noticed him staring she’d given him a saucy wink. She had pale skin, freckled, with tan lines criss-crossing her arms and chest. Her hand rested casually on the blackjack at her hip. She was a full head shorter than her nearest compatriot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud was halfway through a lager when he elbowed Corvo, hard. “That one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?! No!” Corvo hissed. “What part of </span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span> don’t you understand?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Use your Void Gaze.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Why—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>asking,</span>
  </em>
  <span> firebrand.” Daud’s hand disappeared under the table threateningly. Corvo scowled, then let the Void flow through his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The world went funny. The figures were lit up a sickly yellow, cones of vision lighting up the room like Fugue candles. Corvo surveyed the room (he had always loved using the powers that the Mark granted him; it was a reminder that he was different now. No more of the sad Serkonan man trapped in royal hands. He was an outlier, now). Something hissed, and Corvo blinked. Corvo was used to the Void whispers of Daud’s bonecharms, but this wasn’t coming from him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The charm blazed on the woman’s hip. The blackjack concealed the pocket that it was lying in. Corvo squinted. A heretic? Or just an opportunist?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Made it myself.” Daud sipped at his beer. “Greatly extends possession and gets rid of the adverse effects, too. Best thing is that it’s sticky, meaning that if she takes it off, effects’ll linger for several hours.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you snuck it onto her person?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hardly. She and I have been waiting for you to come around on this for a while, but personally? I’m done waiting.” Daud drained his beer and thunked the empty mug onto the table. His eyes glittered. “Get in there, Corvo. And then I’m going to buy you a drink.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Two weeks ago:</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Well, Knife, I’ll give it to you. Never had an offer like this one before.” Nessa sipped her drink and crossed her ankles. She was lounging on the opposite seat like it was a throne, regarding Daud with mirthful eyes.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Should hope so.” Daud reached for the wine and poured her glass full. “Thoughts?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nessa pursed her lips and then grinned so wide her golden canine flashed. “Love it, to be honest. And not just for the coin.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Daud chuckled. He’d been researching for a while now, and everything had pointed towards the redhead being an excellent choice for his...idea. And sure, he and Corvo had bigger things on their plate, but Corvo wasn’t ready to move on yet, and the best Daud could do was to take his mind off of the plan.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“So, what? You’ll force him to possess me and then have your way with him, while he’s riding in my body?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Won’t have to force him,” Daud said with a shrug. “He’ll come around, I know him.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“O-ho.” Nessa’s eyes narrowed. “This is the tall, dark, and handsome one you recently acquired, yes? Lotsa rumours going around about him.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Daud raised an eyebrow, and Nessa tittered into her wine. “Serkonan, going by his looks. An exceptional swordsman. And now a heretic, too.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When Daud didn’t answer, she got up and smoothed down her pants. In the low light of his office, she looked sublime. Red hair open and wild, clear green eyes sparkling with mischief, her curves catching the lantern light. Daud sat still and didn’t bother to hide his admiration.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nessa stepped closer and then leaned down so that their eyes were at the same level, her slim fingers resting light against Daud’s neck. Her perfume had a distinct note of honey in it. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Mm, yes,” she murmured. “I can see why he likes you. You’re danger, Knife.” In one swift motion, she straddled him and pressed closer. Daud placed his hands on her waist and squeezed, reveling on how delicate she felt. It was an illusion, he knew Nessa was a fighter, but she was also nothing like Corvo.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I think we have an agreement,” she whispered into his ear as she rocked her hips.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud watched as Corvo made his way through the crowd towards the back of the bar where Nessa was standing. She was alone, for the moment, nursing a drink and looking lost in thought. Corvo threw Daud a dark, accusing glare over his shoulder before approaching her. Daud settled to watch everything unfold. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nessa looked up the second Corvo stepped closer. Daud could see her smirk at Corvo. His shoulders were stiff. She laughed at whatever Corvo said to her, and then moved like an eel, pushing herself flush against Corvo. If anyone happened to look, it would seem like they were getting to know each other before slipping away for somewhere more private.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud saw Corvo shudder when Nessa’s hands disappeared under his shirt. For a moment he stood still, and then Daud watched as he thawed and his hands found their places; in her hair, and on the small of her back. Daud smiled to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Corvo lost his nerve, watching him fuck Nessa would be almost as good. She was a wildfire in bed, and if Corvo thought he stood a chance against her, he was sorely mistaken.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a long while Daud just watched as Nessa whispered something into Corvo’s ear, saw Corvo’s fingers grow tight and his neck flush. Then, abruptly, Nessa pulled back and produced a small vial of clear liquid from her pocket. Corvo attempted to say something, but she was quicker: in one smooth motion she downed the sedative. Daud saw her wink at him before her grip on Corvo started to grow slack.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud thought Corvo wouldn’t do it, that he’d simply catch Nessa as she fell unconscious and then carry her out of the bar. As soon as Daud had that thought darkness curled around Corvo. The next second he was gone, and Nessa blinked her eyes open with a soft gasp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it wasn’t her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was obvious, in those first seconds. Her body went stiff as she took in her surroundings. Daud watched as she looked around, frowning and worrying her lip, and knew Corvo was now looking through Nessa’s eyes. He was most likely trying to understand just how short the woman was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then the gaze fell to her body, and Daud had to bite his lip to hide his grin; Corvo ran his hands up the thighs and belly, before yanking them away and blushing furiously. Deciding that he’d had quite enough time to get used to the possession, Daud finally strode over to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Are you going to call him by my name?” Nessa’s grin was wicked. She was riding him at a lazy pace. The lantern had burned out ages ago, and Daud was content to watch her move.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Don’t think so,” he said. He’d thought about it. “‘M gonna treat her like a girl, just so he can see he likes it.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nessa squeezed his cock, and Daud gripped her plush thighs and thrust, hard. Nessa cried out, delighted.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Who wouldn’t?” she laughed. “Especially with you. Think of him as a girl, when he rides my body. See how </span>
  </em>
  <span>you</span>
  <em>
    <span> like that, Knife.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Daud gave a bark of laughter and flipped them over.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo looked up when Daud approached her. It was obvious to Daud that the person occupying the body had just switched; Corvo was standing like she was currently uncertain just how the new physical dimensions worked. When Daud crowded her against the wall, something almost like alarm flashed in her eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Looking good,” Daud murmured. He ran his thumb down Corvo’s cheek, now pale and freckled, and finally dragged it over her plump lower lip before she snarled at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is a fucking awful idea,” Corvo hissed. She tried to back away, but the wall stopped her after half a step. She had to truly crane her head up to look Daud in the eye, a detail which seemed to vex her to no end.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You might change your mind,” Daud grinned. He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her along, walking to a booth that was currently free. He pushed Corvo into the seat and slid next to her, blocking her escape. Corvo was squirming to get more room, and Daud let her stew on the fact that pushing her around was now so easy. The barmaid swung by, and he ordered for them both before turning to face Corvo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How’s it feel to be delicate?” His grin was definitely dark now. Corvo stopped scowling at the low cut of Nessa’s shirt and glared at him. The blush was still clearly visible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hate you,” she hissed. “She downed that liquid and fell unconscious. That was your doing as well, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just to make the first time go smooth,” Daud admitted. “For you both.” He scrutinized Corvo for a while and then trailed his fingers down her neck and collarbones. The breaths making her chest rise and fall were coming shallow, but Daud suspected it wasn’t from the alarm any longer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Very good,” he whispered, just as his fingers passed over the fabric covering her breasts. He kept his touch light, and Corvo didn’t disappoint; her mouth opened in protest when Daud’s fingertips grazed a nipple, and then she seemed to forget what she had been about to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sensations sparked his skin and Corvo felt his world grow fuzzy, warmer around the edges. The feeling shot straight to his— his?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You like that,” Daud rumbled, delighted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo forced his eyes back open, lips parted, panting softly. He shifted his legs uncomfortably, feeling something wet between his legs, and a bit… lower? than anticipated. Corvo resisted the sudden desire to bury his fingers in his own cunt. Daud ghosted his fingers across her breast again and Corvo sucked in a breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop that,” he said dimly, acutely aware of the rest of the bar’s patrons. “At least wait.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud drew his fingers back, an insufferable smirk on his face. “You know, my sense of smell is a lot better, these last few months.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He let the statement hang while Corvo processed, then her cheeks reddened. “You fucking bastard—!” He closed his legs, trying not to squirm against the damp sensation between them. “This isn’t Fugue.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know.” Daud crowded her back against the wall, pinning her in with one hip. “I don’t need the excuse to fuck you in public anymore.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We didn’t fuck in public at Fugue. You just stuck your hand down my pants.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The barmaid swung around, carrying two amber beers. Corvo watched as Daud thanked her, then set one in front. He grabbed the handle of the mug in front of him, and pushed it towards Daud. “Switch with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s laugh was insulting; his face, delighted. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Firebrand</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Someone’s paranoid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wonder why.” Corvo took Daud’s own mug and took an experimental sip. Nothing tasted funny, at least. He’d need to pace himself. “So, what. We’re gonna drink, neck in an alley, then try this again later?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud leaned forward and kissed him with no preamble. Corvo started, then his eyes fluttered closed, assaulted with new sensations. His lips were fuller against Daud’s, softer. His physical bulk hadn’t changed, but Corvo’s had. Daud had always loomed, but with Nessa’s body against him, Daud blocked out the light. The effect was heady. Corvo felt like with Daud crowding him, no one could see him at all. Only a pair of feet sticking out, and a riot of red hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud pulled back just a hair, enough so that his breath still fanned out warm over her face. “I can smell it,” he breathed. He palmed her thigh and slowly dragged his hand around to the inside of his leg, where it was warm and sensitive, pulling the skirt back and pushing his hand underneath. Corvo shrank back against the booth and gasped. “Smell how wet you’re already getting.” Daud’s thumb rubbed slow circles at her crotch, the tip of his finger just barely touching a spot of damp. His other hand ran up her belly, ribs, and cupped one breast. Corvo choked out a moan. Daud pushed her back further against the booth.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Not here, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Corvo meant to say, and then Daud’s fingers were pushing aside the thin strap of his panties. Two fingers dipped into his cunt, warm, wet. Corvo whined, squirming, and Daud huffed a laugh against his cheek. He circled a finger inside, just barely, nudging apart his folds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daud</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he gasped. His knees were already widening, and his skirt was going to have a noticeably damp path. “Daud—!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo was shaking, her fingers gripping Daud’s jacket vice-like. Daud breathed her in as he kept teasing, rubbing his fingers along the hot, wet folds. She smelled amazing, like sex and honey and something dark. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud ran his lips down her jaw. “You’re so needy, firebrand. I’ve barely touched you and here you are, spreading your legs for me and begging me to fuck you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It feels— too much,” Corvo got out between her clenched teeth. Her head fell back and she slammed a hand in front of her mouth when Daud rubbed her clit. “Fuck—!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure you know women have much more nerve endings here than guys,” Daud purred. He slowed down and ran slow circles around the good spot. “And you also might know girls are capable of climaxing multiple times.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Corvo’s eyes opened they were hazy. Daud could feel her thighs starting to tremble, and he backed off. His fingers were wet and glistening when he pulled them out. He took a firm grip of Corvo’s jaw and presented them to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have a taste, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo wasn’t quick enough to sputter an argument; Daud slid his fingers inside her mouth, and she barely stifled the moan that welled up in her throat. Daud remembered the way Nessa had used her mouth and grinned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know,” he said in a conversational tone as he pulled his fingers free and took a sip of his ale, “I’m at an advantage here. I wager I know Nessa’s body better than you do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo took a moment to swallow and then she frowned. “What?” Daud didn’t bother to hide his smirk. Corvo’s expression turned thunderous. “You fucked her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She fucked me,” Daud corrected with a shrug. It had been glorious. Nessa was at least as pushy as he was. Corvo took a gulp of beer with hands that trembled a little. The frown didn’t ease off, and Daud chuckled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pouting? Now, firebrand, I didn’t take you for a jealous type.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something flashed in Corvo’s eyes. Her hand shot out and gripped Daud’s hair, and then she was kissing him, biting his lip with her sharp teeth and growling into it. Daud let his hands wander again, pulling her closer and cradling the curve of her hip in his palm. Corvo gasped when Daud thrust his tongue into her mouth and then tried to retaliate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she finally pulled away her face was flushed and fiery. Daud nipped her lip. He only had to shuffle back, and Corvo was climbing into his lap to keep kissing him. It was almost like she wanted to prove a point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When we leave here, I’m gonna make you sit on my face and eat you out until you come apart.” His voice was once again edging into a low, menacing rumble, and the effect it had on Corvo was immediate; she shuddered and shifted. When Daud slotted his hand between her legs again she parted them without a protest. If she had been wet before, now her thighs were soaked. Daud grinned against her lips before kissing her again. He thrust his fingers inside at the same time and swallowed the high keen Corvo made. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then I’m going to keep fucking you, first with my fingers, then with my cock. I’m gonna cum inside you, and then put my mouth on you again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s nails were digging into the back of his neck. Her whole body was going tight, and Daud kissed her harder as he kept rubbing her cunt. If he could make Corvo cum here, he’d count it a win.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His entire body was tingling, from his tits to his toes. It was a completely different sensation, and Corvo was at the mercy of it. Her legs splayed further for Daud’s fingers quite without his influence. Just a little more— just a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little—</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud abruptly pulled his fingers out and Corvo opened his mouth to protest. Daud slammed his hand in front of her mouth. She was still straddling him, the space between them hot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How’s that round treatin’ you?” The barmaid looked over them with no small amount of amusement, and Corvo’s face burned. He hadn’t even noticed her coming.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Surprisingly well,” Daud replied, all toothy smiles, and Corvo wasn’t sure if he wanted to die on the spot or kill Daud on the spot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo coughed, still feeling her own taste on her lips. “Sorry,” he choked out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The barmaid looked at him with that lopsided smile. “You’re not bothering me any, hon, people get up to whatever they like in here.” She gestured with her hand to the rest of the bar. Most were talking, some were necking, and a few in the corner booths were—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ah.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo couldn’t move his eyes away and was acutely aware that both the barmaid and Daud were watching him. One of the couples in the corner— a pretty woman with soft tits, currently filling the mouth of her lighter-skinned partner. The woman’s head was tipped back in ecstasy as her partner sucked her nipples into hard peaks. Could you cum from that, Corvo wondered, faraway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s lap shifted as he pulled out his wallet and handed the barmaid a few large coins. Corvo huffed, meaning to roll off his lap, but Daud’s fingers tightened against his hips. “Where do you think you’re goin, firebrand?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought this was a date at a dive bar, not you fucking me in some—brothel.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Brothels have whores. This is an establishment for couples to come and enjoy themselves. Only one whore here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo blushed and squirmed again. Daud shoved his thigh up between her legs and the motion sent a shock of pleasure rippling through her body. Corvo gasped, grinding down before he could stop himself. “Who is that whore, I wonder,” Daud mused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Guess we’ll never know.” Daud pulled Corvo firmly into his lap again and slid his hand back underneath her skirt. His fingers returned to her cunt and Corvo bit her lip, hard, feeling blood bead around the skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He fingered her until she was panting again, thrusts unsteady, on the edge. “Daud,” she gasped, a bitten-off half sound in the crook of his neck. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daud.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grabbed her wrists and slid them to his crotch. “Get my cock out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her fingers were clumsy at his belt. She pulled the belt from the buckle, loosening it just enough to unzip his fly and push down his underthings. His cock was hot to the touch, slick, and when she palmed in her hands he groaned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud grabbed her by the middle, pulling Corvo’s body up, angling her— and then he lowered her onto his cock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo buried her face into Daud’s neck with a soft whimper as he slid her onto his cock. She was wet and hot, and her whole body was trembling as she sought purchase on the bench. Daud gripped her hips and forced her still once she bottomed out. He could feel her contracting around his cock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Feel good?” Daud murmured into her ear. She was panting and trying to move. “Feel how well my cock fills your pussy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Daud,” Corvo moaned. “Let me—fucking let me move.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In answer, Daud only dug his fingers deeper; they caught the slickness Corvo had been leaking, and Daud drew in a long, deep breath. Corvo growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hate you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t,” Daud purred. “You love this feeling, and you’ll love it even more when I finally let you fuck yourself on my cock. My little slut.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo tried to retaliate by squeezing her cunt again, and Daud laughed. His cock was throbbing, and staying still was certainly teasing him as much as her. He rolled his hips just once, and Corvo bit his neck as she tried to avoid moaning aloud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They can all see you,” Daud whispered. He wrapped one arm around her waist to keep her still, and with the other he started to play around; he gathered up the slickness and spread it further, fingers finding more tender spots to touch and stroke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They can all see you’re begging me to fuck you, and that I have to hold you still ‘cause you’re so damn impatient.” Daud licked the shell of Corvo’s ear, and she actually whined in frustration as her thighs strained against his grip. He laughed and let her struggle for a few seconds longer, and then the temptation got the better of him. His arm loosened and both of his hands moved to cup Corvo’s ass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go ahead, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somewhere, Corvo knew he should be embarrassed. But the dim feeling was completely submerged by the heat in every inch of her body. She lifted herself up with her thighs, feeling Daud’s cock slide inside of her, just holding the tip inside, then slid back down experimentally. It was nearly frictionless, just a hot, warm slide. Daud huffed out a sound and Corvo moaned as his cunt made contact with Daud’s groin again. “F-fuck,” she gasped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s hand took her chin roughly and forced it down. “Look,” he purred. “You have a front-row view to what everyone else is seeing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo reflexively tried to turn his head to check the room, but Daud yanked her back. “Eyes where I tell you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo swallowed and looked down. Her skirt was rough cotton, stained a light gray. It did nothing to hide what was going on underneath. She could see wet spots beginning to form where their bodies joined under the fabric. The gray cotton draped over her groin and tented and pooled around Daud’s thighs. She bit her lip, circling her hips experimentally, and watched the fabric shift.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nessa’s not gonna wash that skirt when we’re done,” Daud observed, a sly little grin on his face. “She’ll hold it to her face when she touches herself, later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She can’t have you,” Corvo snarled, and shoved himself back on Daud’s cock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She already has.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo grabbed Daud’s face in his hands punitively and kissed him, hard, teeth and tongue. Daud’s laugh was muffled as Corvo tried to bite his lips. He settled back on the bench and jerked his hips, fucking up harder into her, and the motion stole the breath from her lungs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She ground down, mouth still open and airless, and a spike of pleasure ran through her body. It was hotter, more urgent than the others, and Corvo ground down hard against Daud’s thrusts, chasing the feeling. There— there, nearly—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s head rolled back and she gasped as her orgasm hit her. She writhed on Daud’s cock, not quite sure if she wanted to get closer or further. Daud yanked her against him, his hips circling as he pushed ever deeper, and his thumb pressed against her clit over the skirt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop, stop,” She pushed his hand away, gasping. “Fuck— </span>
  <em>
    <span>stop!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud didn’t listen. He let the pulsing carry him over the edge, and for some reason doing it like </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>when it was their first time trying it felt...almost wrong, but in a way that made his toes curl with pleasure as he dragged Corvo into a kiss and let his restraint melt away. She was still cumming when Daud tipped over and came inside her, and knowing it was Corvo inside Nessa’s body had Daud shuddering with that dark </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>he only sensed with Corvo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Daud finally came back to his wits he pulled back just enough to take in the dazed look of Corvo on his lap. Her eyes were half-lidded and she was still shivering, her pussy occasionally giving a lazy throb as she shifted minutely. Her hair was sticking to her forehead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nicely done,” Daud murmured with a grin. He buried his hands under Corvo’s skirt, and she gasped when he felt around the part where their bodies were still joined together, him gradually softening. For now. “We’re going to walk out of here in a bit, and you’ll be leaking all over yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo blushed crimson at his words. She wriggled off his lap. Her feet didn’t look entirely steady when she stood up and hastily pulled her skirt down. It did nothing whatsoever to hide the state she was in; the gray skirt was speckled with damp spots, and what little Daud could see of her thighs were glistening in the dim lighting of the bar. Daud tucked his cock back into his pants and stood up, and once again Corvo did an obvious double-take to understand how damn short Nessa was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close. The patrons in the next table weren’t even trying to hide their stares, and one of them gave Daud an admiring, halfway jealous eyeroll. Corvo noticed it, too, and her face darkened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can feel my cum slipping out,” Daud whispered to her as they waded through the crowd towards the door. His hand slid lower and cupped her ass. She snarled, trying to pull away. Daud didn’t let her. “It’s running out of your cunt and you hate that you love that feeling.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you,” Corvo snarled, trying to reconcile the wetness between his legs. It was uncomfortable and arousing all at the same time, and his body was still languid and warm with pleasure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stalked along the street with Daud easily keeping pace next to him with his longer stride. She was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> hurrying home, Corvo told herself. They were making their way home at a completely normal pace, and when they did get home, Corvo was going to sit Daud down and read him the fucking riot act for this whole thing. And would </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> sleep with him. Maybe that would show him. Doubtful, though. Maybe Corvo would be able to lock herself in the water closet and try out a few things he’d been curious about.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another dribble of cum slid down her thighs, and Corvo sucked in a breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Would Nessa be able to feel this?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo’s lip curled at the thought, and another wave of heat rocked him. “Did you do this to her?” he asked, the words slipping out before he could stop them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud looked down at her, amused. “I’d have to think about it,” he said eventually, clearly measuring the words to rile her up. “I could have done it and forgotten—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo grabbed the lapel of his jacket and shoved him into an alleyway. “Don’t fucking toy with me,” he hissed. Daud looked amused, and Corvo’s anger doubled when he realized that Daud had let himself be herded into the side street. She shook him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Does it bother you?” Daud said, voice pitched low and intimate. “Do you want me to tell you that you’re better than her?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t give a fuck what kind of lay she was,” Corvo lied, straining up onto his tip-toes to crowd Daud into the alleyway. “I’m just saying—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jealous bitch.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo slapped him and the noise rang out in the alleyway. Daud laughed, and Corvo drew back his hand to do it again. But this time, Daud caught it. He ran his tongue down her palm and Corvo shivered, staring. “You’re disgusting,” he managed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud just looked down at her wordlessly, sucking each of her fingers into his mouth and laving them with his tongue one-by-one. Corvo watched it happen, mouth slack, until his cunt was throbbing again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She pulled herself away, swallowing. “I didn’t pay for a flat to sit here in this fucking alley,” she said eventually. “Come on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time they reached the flat Daud could tell Corvo was ready to vibrate out of her skin with anger. Possessing Nessa had done nothing to douse the temper that had earned her the nickname, but Daud was surprised to discover that facing that fire like this was different. When it was Corvo in his own body, that dark instinct told Daud to mount him, show him who was in control. He needed Corvo to fight back, yes, but Daud wanted to win those struggles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, as Corvo kicked the door closed and practically climbed Daud’s body as they kissed, her sharp teeth ripping into his lip, Daud found himself wanting to throw fuel into that flame. He wanted to watch it explode and bathe in the fire. It wouldn’t kill him, but he could very well allow it to burn him to cinders. His hands were under Corvo’s thighs before he consciously thought about it, and in one smooth motion she was pinned against the wall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud fumbled his breeches open with one hand and then he gripped Corvo harder. She was just starting to realize what was happening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck!” Her voice cracked as Daud slid into her again, still wet and loose. Daud sucked a bruise right below her ear and she pressed into it, breaths coming quicker and quicker as Daud started to fuck her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was light to hold up, and when she wrapped her legs around Daud’s middle he could use one hand to fist it into her hair and pull. Corvo cried out at that, pussy going tight again, and Daud laughed against her mouth as he picked up the pace. He knew he had promised to eat her out, but it would be more fun if she was properly, truly angry when they did it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I did fuck her like this,” Daud rumbled into Corvo’s ear. His hips were snapping up and even when Daud knew his knot wouldn’t swell outside of the odd heat, he could tell some of the mysterious changes were ever present. He was burning up with the need to make it violent, to have Corvo drawing blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I fucked her against this same wall, right here,” Daud went on, his voice dropping into a low growl. “And she loved it, just like you’re loving it right now, getting pinned here like a helpless thing, just a needy slut who doesn’t even know how her own body works.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you!” Corvo spat. She bit his lip so hard it bled, and the coppery taste exploded in Daud’s mouth. When he looked, Corvo’s eyes were narrow with rage, even as she was breathing hard and fast, pleasure evident in the way she trembled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She tried to struggle against Daud’s grip and he laughed, holding her tighter as he changed the angle. The advantage of having fucked Nessa like this was knowing how to hit her good spot, and Daud wanted to make Corvo feel that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knew he had found it when she cried out, voice tight with anger and alarmed need. Daud kept the pace hard, rushing towards his own finish once again, and Corvo mewled and writhed, hands fisted into Daud’s hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Had her exactly like this,” Daud breathed. “You’re just a lot simpler to take apart, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo wanted to scream at Daud so he did, his voice high and forgien in her own ears. She fucked herself down on Daud’s cock, muscles straining, running hard after her own climax. She clawed at Daud’s chest and was pleased at least to find that Nessa kept her nails decently sharp— well, aside from a few fingers (his mind went suddenly back to the couple at the bar and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>burned</span>
  </em>
  <span>). She raked her nails down Daud’s hairy chest just to watch the red marks bead blood. “Fuck— fuck fuck fuck—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She reached down between their bodies shakily as her peak neared. Daud growled, lost in the moment, and Corvo grabbed the base of his cock and squeezed her fingers around it tight. Daud jerked. “What the fuck, firebrand—” and then Corvo was cumming, drunk on the power and the pulse of Daud’s cock, grinding down on her own fingers and clenching on the feeling inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud growled, denied his own release. Corvo pushed at his face with her free hand, still gasping through her finish. “Fuck you,” she gasped, legs shaking. “Deal. Hope your fucking balls fall off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grabbed her wrist and pulled out suddenly. Her cunt clenched around nothingness and Corvo snarled as her orgasm fizzled. “You fucking asshole,” she spat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hope you had fun,” Daud taunted, and Corvo was going to kill him, chop him up into little pieces and toss them one by one into the Wrenhaven for the hagfish. She kicked out of Daud’s grip to stand on shaky legs. Daud’s cock was still flushed red and glistening. “Can you still feel it? Trickling out—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut your damn mouth.” Corvo could, too, could feel Daud’s cum sticking between her thighs. “I should shut you up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doubt you could. But I could humor you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Humor me,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Corvo repeated stupidly, a wave of ire rolling over him. And Daud was right, too, which is why it burned. He couldn’t even pretend to hurt Daud like this. His hands were small, pale, and his muscles were so much weaker than he was used to. Her skin was soft, even fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>smelled</span>
  </em>
  <span> soft, and when she curled her hands into fists they couldn’t do more than smack Daud’s barrel chest ineffectively. Daud laughed and caught her wrists again, lifting one to his nose to smell. “Nice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo kicked at his instep and Daud stumbled once. “You’re a fucking bastard. You’re getting off on this,” he accused, shoving ineffectively at Daud. He scooched back on the bed leisurely and stretched his arms out behind his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I am. Did before. You gonna ride me like she did?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The image sprang fresh into Corvo’s mind— Nessa, hair frizzy and the lovely column of her neck tipped back, Daud’s cock buried in her pussy, putting on a show as she rolled her hips. “No,” he snarled. “You’d enjoy it too much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*** </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud threw his head back and laughed. He was still halfway dressed, his cock was fucking aching from the vice-grip Corvo had handled it with, and he was feeling more alive than in years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So let’s talk about what you’d enjoy instead,” Daud threw at Corvo. She bristled, still standing by the bed. Her eyes followed his movements as Daud slowly kicked his trousers and boots off and shrugged out of his ruined shirt. It would be hopeless to try to find the buttons. When he was fully naked, he stretched back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You like being her,” Daud said in a low tone. “But you don’t know how that body works, firebrand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo crossed her arms and then frowned when her breasts came in the way of the movement. She scowled harder at Daud’s knowing smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get out of those clothes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a while Daud thought Corvo wouldn’t obey, but then he saw the curiosity win; her hands slowly crept along the hem of her shirt, and then she took a deep breath and pulled it off. Daud raked his eyes over her as she discarded the skirt, too, and when their eyes met Corvo was looking furious again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Happy?” she spat. Daud shook his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get in here.” Daud didn’t wait for her to acquiesce this time, but tugged Corvo on the bed, positioning her on top to straddle his chest. Cum and slick caught in his chest hair, and this close she smelled obscene.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud looked up and grinned at Corvo. “You certainly liked having your tits played with, firebrand. Put your hands to some good use, will you.” He didn’t wait for an answer, just grabbed her thighs and spread them over his face. The scent had made his mouth water at the bar, and now it was so strong it made his head swim. Being able to smell people’s arousal was a new thing, and Corvo riding Nessa’s body was driving him wild with want.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud licked a wet stripe through the mess on her thigh, and Corvo bit back a shocked moan at the contact. When Daud glanced up, he saw her fingers were running over her tits. There was a dark smattering of freckles around the nipples.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud slotted his fingers between her asscheeks and spread them. Corvo rocked to meet his tongue with a throaty moan, and Daud grinned against her cunt. Eating out a partner was always so fucking good, and especially like this. Corvo was sopping wet, and she tasted of Daud as he buried his tongue as deep into her pussy as he could. Corvo made another soft sound at that, her thighs shuffling into a wider position. She rocked forward and one of her hands came to grip Daud’s hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud kept his word. He ran his tongue up and down Corvo’s cunt, lapping up his own cum and the slick Corvo was leaking, and as her moans got louder she started to rock her hips, meeting Daud’s mouth halfway. When Daud licked up to her clit she gave a hoarse shout, and the hand in his hair tightened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t get much of a warning; Corvo took a stinging grip on his hair and her hips moved, and Daud found himself buried into her; he couldn’t draw a breath, but it didn’t matter. He sucked on her clit, rubbing his tongue around it as he pressed closer, and Corvo gasped as his fingers grew tight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was something about the position that made Corvo’s head swim, and it wasn’t just Daud’s tongue at her folds. Crouched over him, she felt powerful. She ground down harder on Daud’s face, rubbing her cunt across his cheeks before settling back down onto his mouth. From this angle…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo looked down at him, at his riot of dark hair and twisted scar, to the place where his face was buried in his pussy. His nose just brushed her crotch and she could feel his chest moving, drawing in a breath here and there where he could get it. She rolled forward incrementally, just enough to block his air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s moan buzzed against her clit and Corvo sucked in a breath, dizzy with power. She ground forward harder to feel Daud’s chest work fruitlessly. “Yeah,” she breathed, hand coming up to her tit again. She pinched the hard nub between her fingers and sucked in a breath. “Yeah, you like how it feels?” She buried her other hand in Daud’s hair and yanked hard, pulling his mouth up towards her pussy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud gave no sign of protesting, not that she could tell. Corvo spread her legs and rocked her hips hard enough to chafe, pushing her chest into her own hand, biting her lip hard as she rolled her tit in her hand. “Shit,” she breathed, legs shaky. “Fuck, fuck—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His tongue was getting sloppy against her. He licked large, messy stripes against her folds, sticky with her slick and his cum, and every touch sent a shockwave of pleasure down to her toes. “Suck it,” she ordered urgently, grabbing at his head to better position his mouth over her clit. “Suck it, suck it, now now</span>
  <em>
    <span> now—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>His mouth was clumsy, lashes fluttering, but he obliged her best he could. The tip of his tongue ran against the peak of her cunt before he fastened his lips around and sucked, hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo came with a shout, grinding down hard, eyes watering and hand frantically moving over her breast. Daud chased her best he could. After several moments she slumped over him, panting, kissing him wetly on the chin and lips and tasting their shared slick. His chest was heaving.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud let his heartbeat calm down. Corvo was laying on top of him, but she was so light; her weight was just a nice reminder she was there, unquestionably. Daud held her close and he could feel the shudders as they ran up and down her spine. That was, what, three times now?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud let Corvo lull herself into a sense of calm before he suddenly flipped them around. Like this he actually had to watch out, or else he would crush her. He pinned her down, and Corvo tried to say something, the words slurred. Her eyes were dazed and unfocused, but when Daud kneeled over her to mirror their former position they fluttered properly open. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud grinned down at her. He stroked himself lazily, and Corvo’s eyes followed the movement. She didn’t even seem to notice licking her lips. Daud leaned closer, leaving her hands trapped under his shins and pressing into the too-soft mattress. Corvo’s tongue darted out and licked his glans, and Daud gave an appreciative hum.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Looking good, firebrand,” he murmured. “Gonna get a cock in that pretty mouth of yours, and something else up your pussy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud pushed inside her mouth before Corvo managed to say anything, and she moaned. Daud let the tendrils peel away from his body, hips moving enough to fuck Corvo’s mouth. He let the Void wander around her belly and thighs, and Corvo made small, muffled sounds of overstimulation. She had abandoned trying to keep her eyes open, and was clearly getting lost inside her head now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud angled himself and pushed deeper. Nessa’s mouth was smaller than Corvo’s, and Corvo gagged as Daud’s cock nudged her throat. Her eyes flew open, and right then Daud shoved the thickest tendril inside her. Corvo made a high, startled noise that melted into a keening mewl around his cock. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you like that,” Daud grunted. He let the tentacle move on its own, the sensations running through him. Corvo was tight and sore from her previous orgasms, and her pussy was a mess of her own slick and the dark hues of the Void. He took a grip of the red hair and started a slow pace, enjoying the way Corvo’s full lips stretched around his shaft.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Next time I’ll ask Thomas to join us,” Daud told Corvo. “I’m gonna take you from behind like a little whore while Thomas fucks your face, and I’ll add a tendril into your snug ass. Maybe then you’ll be satisfied.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fullness.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Corvo could have sobbed from how good it felt; his face might have already been damp. This way, Daud’s cock felt somehow even thicker, filling his mouth and throat completely. He couldn’t do much in this position, couldn’t even get his tongue around Daud’s cock. Her mouth and throat was just another warm hole for Daud to fuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her heels slid on the mattress as the tentacle fucked ever deeper, writing, and her pussy clenched around the thick appendage without her trying. Daud was saying something low and dark above her, hips moving faster, balls starting to smack the underside of her chin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t enough. Corvo grabbed blindly around her and it didn’t take long for her hand to hit one of the slippery tendrils. She grabbed it and pushed it down further, gagging as the contortion made Daud’s cock nudge her throat funnily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” he asked, slipping his cock out of her mouth and kissing him messily. Corvo moaned, words long having since escaped him, and moved her fingers to her ass. “Oh, you want more?” His lips brushed hers as he spoke. “Nessa was different. She wasn’t such a needy slut. You outdo her by far in that regard, firebrand.” He slipped the tendril past the tight ring of muscle and let the girth do the stretching for him. Corvo gasped, toes curling, and the thicker tentacle in his ass thrust in sharply. “Thomas and I will both cum inside of you. Then I’m going to watch him eat you out, and watch you kiss him after. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo shook his head, the last vestiges of his protest. Daud grinned and shoved his cock back into Corvo’s mouth. “Maybe you want Nessa instead. See how it feels to taste your own cunt. I’ll make you eat my cum out of someone else’s pussy, and watch you cum doing it.” He snapped his hips harder and Corvo’s eyes rolled back. “Now, you be a good girl, and you open up wide for me so I can cum down your fucking throat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The tendrils in her ass and cunt thrust hard, pushing Corvo’s slight body further up the sheets. Corvo moaned around Daud’s cock, limp with pleasure. Daud grinned and buried his hands in her hair. “Come on, Corvo,” he breathed, hips moving quicker now. “Come on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In his cunt, the tentacle there pulsed, and then a sticky wetness filled her. Corvo tipped back her head and came hard, vision whiting out. Daud pinned her to the bed, riding her face, and she was still cumming when Daud’s cock twitched and he trickled down her throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He groaned, holding onto her face and hair, milking every last drop from his cock and rubbing Corvo’s throat to make her swallow. She gagged when he pulled out, sputtering, redfaced. The tendrils though, stayed in, warm and full. “Good girl,” Daud breathed, patting her cheek and panting. Corvo’s eyes slipped shut at the praise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Epilogue</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Nessa was floating. She buried her face deeper into the pillow and hid away from the dim light. Sleep was slowly fraying around the edges, but the buzzing, warm satisfaction didn’t vanish with it. Her cunt felt tight and it throbbed dully, as if still reliving something done hours ago. Her nipples were sore, and when she swallowed her throat protested just enough to tell her all she needed to know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud and his toy had certainly had fun, it seemed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A huge, warm hand landed on her bare back and ran down in one smooth, sure motion. Nessa canted her ass into the caress and grinned against the pillows. Her body remembered that hand, it seemed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning, Daud.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mornin’. How’re you feelin’?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nessa peeked through the tangle of her hair and saw Daud was only barely more awake than she was. His hair was mussed and there was a languid sort of grace in the way he was petting her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like someone went five rounds with every hole I have,” Nessa murmured. Daud’s fingers dipped between her thighs and she spread them without protest. “Did you two have fun?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We sure did.” Daud sounded unrepentantly smug. “Corvo was very happy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I imagine he’d give me a different assessment, were I to ask.” Nessa’s words muffled into the pillow as Daud pushed his fingers inside of her. He was a damn quick study. “Still feelin’ like a go, Knife?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get up here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nessa sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. It was just a riot of curls, like someone had knotted their fingers in it several times. Daud only grinned when she shot him an admonishing look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His body was running hot when Nessa finally gave up trying to tame her mane and straddled him. She took her time, bending down to kiss him, and Daud laughed into her mouth as their tongues met in the middle. Daud always felt dangerous, but Nessa was learning she could develop a taste for it. She had no preference as to the gender of her bedmates, but she could see she might be ruined for other guys.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His cock slid in, and Nessa paused to savor the fullness. She looked down and then ran her fingers over the blue and black markings on her thighs. She expected them to hurt, but they weren’t bruises.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s this, then?” She looked up, and Daud met her gaze with a lazy smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Might tell you, one day,” he rumbled. He gripped her thighs and started to roll his hips, and Nessa held on to his wrists. It was so good, just letting Daud move inside her. His cock was thick and there was just a hint of something odd to it, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She lost time, and only when there was a sleepy growl next to her, she remembered the other guy. Corvo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was utterly different from Daud; his skin was a pretty, warm brown, his hair was a nest of dark curls, and he was currently glaring daggers at Daud. The assassin was looking straight back with a smile slipping into an outright leer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s on your mind, firebrand?” Daud chuckled. “You look like you’d like to join in.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo tried to tug the covers over himself, but he was a second too late. Nessa saw how his cock was straining against his belly, even as he looked like he might bite Daud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nessa had always loved danger. In one smooth motion she abandoned Daud and Corvo wasn’t quite quick enough to react; she landed on top of him, and for a second Corvo’s anger morphed into alarm. Then it was back, and he was glaring at her and baring his teeth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get off.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nessa tutted. She shuffled up, until she could press her tits right against Corvo’s face. He tried to turn his face away, but suddenly Daud’s fingers gripped his hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be impolite. You did like them last night, couldn’t keep your hands off.” Nessa laughed as Corvo blushed furiously. Daud gave his head a nudge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Put your mouth to some good use.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corvo scowled furiously, but then his tongue darted out. Nessa sighed as it curled around her nipple, before Corvo latched onto it properly and bit down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Yes,” she moaned. She rocked back until she could feel Corvo’s cock nudge her pussy. The man shuddered at the contact, but when his eyes opened, they were still dark with anger. Nessa smirked down at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you enjoy it?” she whispered. “Having my tits and cunt for a night? Did Daud fuck you until you were sobbing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To her surprise, Corvo’s eyes fluttered closed. Daud was still gripping his hair hard, and Nessa was transfixed as she watched Corvo sink into subspace before her eyes. Daud pressed closer and pried Corvo’s mouth off her breast, only to kiss him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He was so wet,” Daud murmured into Corvo’s dark hair. “It was slicking his thighs the second I touched her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nessa stifled a moan and then finally sank down onto Corvo’s cock. Corvo moaned, needy and open, and Nessa bit her lip as she started to ride him. Corvo’s hands landed on her hips and held on, hard enough to bruise, and she gave him a cocky grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And now you fall apart just for us?” she asked, testing. Daud’s answering grin was dark and menacing, but Corvo just nodded, eyes hazy and darting from Nessa to Daud, as if unsure which one he was supposed to be following.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud’s thumb pushed through Nessa’s soaked pubic hair. It started to run around her clit just hard enough to send jolts of pleasure through her, just rough enough to make her clench her pussy. Corvo moaned as she did, and Nessa grinned wider. Yes, she was definitely developing a taste for this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud finally craned his head up to kiss Nessa, right when she started to tip over, and the sight made Corvo surface from his haze. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him bare his teeth again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fucking—” he started, but right then Nessa cried out against Daud’s mouth as she started to cum, and Corvo’s words were lost in a gasp and a groan as the pulses dragged him over too. Nessa felt his cock twitch inside her as she rode out her climax with Daud’s hand on her tit and her own nails digging into Corvo’s arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When it finally petered out she fell limp and landed right on top of Corvo again. The man made a weary protesting sound, but then just groaned again and didn’t shoo her off. Nessa tucked her nose against his stubbly cheek.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice to meet you, Corvo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you. Both of you.” Corvo’s voice was a mixture of post-orgasmic haze and weary annoyance. Daud barked a laugh as he stretched out next to them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“‘M not fuckin’ you,” Corvo added as he turned his head towards Daud. He scowled so hard Nessa vaguely worried he might pull a muscle. It was adorable. “You can use your own fucking hand this time.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm, I could do that,” Daud rumbled with a very unconvincing frown. His eyes met Nessa’s, and she smiled toothily. “Or I could make you watch us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Daud was strong enough to just lift Nessa into his lap. She was still pulsing inside, and her blissed, boneless form fit perfectly against Daud’s bulk. She turned to look at Corvo just as Daud started to roll his hips again, and caught the flash that was almost jealousy, almost greed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nessa bit her lip as the pleasure started to mount again. She would put on a show.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>